The head of the WTA says he is hopeful but not certain that the WTA Tour will be able to resume in time for this year’s grass-court season.
Steve Simon has said the governing body of women’s tennis is continuously looking at relevant data to see when it will be safe to resume the tour. The have been no professional tournaments since the last week of February due to the Covid-19 pandemic causing havoc around the world. Triggering the WTA and ATP to release a joint-statement in which they confirmed the suspension of play and freezing of rankings earlier this month.
Play has been given a scheduled date of June 8th to resume, but there is a strong chance that the suspension could be extended further. The events set to take place during that week are in Nottingham, UK and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. However, both of those events are in doubt. Britain is currently in a three-week lockdown with the public only allowed to leave their houses for certain reasons. All sporting events have also been halted. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands there has been more than 7000 cases of the coronavirus.
“We’re looking at the data and obviously taking all the information we receive from the medical experts and the local governments with respect to the restrictions that are in place.” Simon said during an interview with The Tennis Channel.
“The WTA and tennis is unique because it is global. Currently we’re hoping to play again during the grass-court season which begins on June 8th. But we are also realistic and looking at the data we also realise that it could be delayed even further.”
Next week a decision will also be made concerning the fate of this year’s Wimbledon, which is also in serious doubt. The decision taken there could be highly influential on when the WTA may try to resume their tour. Although Simon stresses that it is the health of his players which remains his top priority.
“The first and foremost thought in our mind is the safety of our athletes, staff and fans. We want to be playing as soon as possible.” He stated.
“Hopefully it will be June, but if not we are hoping that it will be during the summer hard court season in the states (America).“
When play does eventually get underway again, it is unclear if there will be another joint-statement from the WTA and ATP. Although the head of the WTA has insisted that all relevant bodies are working together.
“It’s very important right now for our sport to be working together. We are in contact on a daily basis with the ATP, as well as the ITF and grand slams. I think the sport is working very well together. There are obviously, when you go through these things, blips in the script.” He concluded.
Whilst not directly naming, one of the blips Simon is referring to is likely linked to the French Tennis Federation. Who recently announced that they will be moving the French Open until a week after the US Open in September. Catching many off guard and subsequently ending the existence of numerous other tournaments once scheduled to take place during that period.
Simon has been the head of the WTA since 2015.
