No women’s tennis until May 2: Roland Garros is in danger

No women’s tennis until May 2. The WTA decided that yesterday because of the corona crisis. Madrid and Rome are then the only tournaments left for Roland Garros. Given the current situation, that even seems (very) optimistic.

With Bernard Tomic, a (reasonably) well-known tennis player was also affected by the coronavirus last weekend. The Australian ex-number seventeen of the world went into self-isolation in Miami after showing all the symptoms of the coronavirus.

“I still have to be tested, but I am short of breath, and my immune system seems to be weakened,” said 27-year-old Tomic. He said he picked up the virus while traveling back to Miami from Monterrey, Mexico, last week. Yaroslava Shvedova was also quarantined in Kazakhstan for fourteen days after she shared the return flight from Indian Wells home via Moscow with a virus carrier. Shvedova will have time to recover.

Hardly preparation for the clay

After all, yesterday, the WTA decided to postpone the resumption of the tour for another week. Also, the tournaments of Stuttgart (April 27), Prague, and Istanbul have already been canceled. The lady’s circuit wants to resume at the earliest on May 2. That should then happen in Madrid or the week after in Rome. However, given the current situation in both places, it seems almost impossible that tennis will actually be played.

Next week, the WTA already comes with an upcoming update about the European clay-court season. Roland Garros (May 24) is waiting anxiously, but the chance that the second grand slam tournament of the year will also take place seems to be getting smaller. “It’s going to be very close,” WTA boss Steve Simon knew a few days ago. Such a significant event takes time in terms of organization and also gets a third of its 200 million euros in income from ticket sales. A tournament without an audience will, therefore, only be presented as the ultimate emergency solution. It would also be bizarre that players without any gravel preparation should immediately enter Paris.

On to the grass season then? In terms of the degree of contamination, England is still somewhat behind Europe and will, therefore, only endure the peak later. Wimbledon (June 29) already announced that they would rather cancel than play without an audience and that they have insurance that can refund all ticket holders.