American star Tennys Sandgren has finally given words to the worst fears of the tennis fans at this moment. After the cancellation of multiple important tennis events like the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Open, the clay-court season is under serious threat.
In fact, the Monte Carlo Masters has already been scrapped as it comes within the six-week deadline set by the ATP. That would mean that three Masters 1000 events would be cancelled. Apart from the tremendous loss of ranking points, that stalls the momentum of many tennis players.
However, Sandgren – a player with massive form after the Australian Open, believes that the worst was yet to come for tennis. He believes that the entire clay-court season might have to be scrapped because of the Coronavirus. This means that we might finally see a grand slam being called off in the form of the French Open. Let’s hear what Tennys Sandgren has to say about the same.
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What did Tennys Sandgren say?
This is what the emerging American star had to say –
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“Does gathering for sports events really matter compared to flooding the health care system? Obviously not,” Sandgren told the New York Times.
People just have to understand that and be OK with taking one for the team in all walks of life.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we were not back out there until the grass [season].”
Even though his words might sound bitter to tennis fans, they make a lot of sense. France is one of the worst affected countries. With over 4000 recorded cases, 91 deaths have been reported in the country.
However, the French Open seems pretty confident about holding the event as per the schedule. This is what the French Tennis Federation (FFT) director-general Jean-Francois Vilotte had to say –
“We are on a 13-hectare site which allows the flow of spectators to be organised very differently from football stadiums.”
However, French authorities have directed sports authorities to not conduct any event in confined spaces with over 5000 people. The tennis federation has its own solutions-
“Even with the roof closed, Court Philippe Chatrier is an outdoor court,” he said.
“It is covered, but there are spaces between the stands and the roof which make it not a confined enclosure.”
Do you think that the French Open 2020 can go according to plans?