Several major tennis tournaments have been postponed or canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Now there is a opportunity that the 2020 US Open could be altered. In an interview with Within Tennis magazine, United States Tennis Organization executive director Michael Dowse believes that the United States Open could be moved to Indian Wells and take place in November.
“Nothing is off the table,” Dowse said in the April 30 interview.
As of at the moment, the United States Open is slated to start on Aug. 24 and run through Sept. 13 in New York. Dowse also mentioned that more information is expected to be known in June and it’s still conceivable that the event could be held in New York without fans in attendance.
The USA Open, which is one of tennis’ four Grand Slam tournaments, would be relatively a different spectacle without fans attending whether the event were to stay in New York at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s Arthur Ashe Stadium — the largest tennis stadium on this planet. Alternatively, the state’s stay-at-home order can be a key factor in the decision. It’s likely California will lift their order before New York does. In that case, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden sits 16,000 fans and is the second-largest tennis stadium in the USA. Whether there could be fans in attendance by then, Indian Wells would have the space to spread them out.
“No formal decision has been made approximately Indian Wells,” Dowse added. “Whatever we do, we will have to do it in alignment with the owners of Indian Wells, and the ATP and the WTA.”
All over the 2020 calendar year, Wimbledon has been already been canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The USA Open is the next major tournament on the calendar.
“All of us want the U.S. Open to happen and we are able to help with increased (coronavirus) testing and to help players get in and in another country,” Dowse said.
Dowse did reveal that the USTA’s priorities are the health of its athletes, staff, and fans, the good of the game, and the financial have an effect on that canceling the U.S. Open would have.