Suspensions of men's, women's pro tours extended

Arthur Ashe Stadium looms over rows of subway trains in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
The U.S. Open, still scheduled for Aug. 31 to Sept. 13, could move to Orlando, Fla.,
or Indian Wells, or it could be canceled. File photo by Paul Bauman

   The suspension of the men's and women's professional tours today were extended to July 31 and July 12, respectively, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
   ATP tournaments in Hamburg, Bastad, Newport, Los Cabos, Gstaad, Umag, Atlanta and Kitzbuhel will not be held as scheduled. The ATP Challenger Tour and the ITF World Tennis Tour during that time also have been suspended.
   WTA tourneys in Bastad, Lausanne, Bucharest and Jurmala (Latvia) were canceled.
   Further updates are scheduled for mid-June (ATP) and June (WTA).
   The U.S. Open remains scheduled for Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., and the French Open for Sept. 20 to Oct. 4. The French Tennis Federation announced on March 17 that Roland Garros would be moved from May 24-June 7 to one week after the U.S. Open.
   The New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. Open could move from Flushing Meadows, N.Y., to the United States Tennis Association's 100-court training facility in Orlando, Fla., or to Indian Wells, the site of the BNP Paribas Open, but perhaps not in late summer.
   The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of the U.S. Open, is near the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the New York area.
   Cancellation of the two Grand Slam tournaments also is a strong possibility because so many people are needed to hold them and players would have to travel from all over the world.
   Last year's U.S. Open generated $400 million, more than 80 percent of the USTA's annual revenue, according to the Times. The tournament does not have cancellation insurance because of the prohibitive cost.
   Wimbledon, originally scheduled for June 29 to July 12, was canceled for the first time in 75 years on April 1. The Tokyo Olympics, which had been set for July 24 to Aug. 9, were postponed until summer 2021 on March 24.