US Open to go ahead behind closed doors amid COVID-19: Reports

The United States Tennis Association is set to host the US Open this year, behind closed doors, amid the COVID-19, despite some of the elite players expressing concerns surrounding the tournament due to the dreaded virus.

As per multiple reports, the USTA will announce this week that the US Open will be held between August 31 to September 13 in New York with support of ATP and WTA.

The reports further suggested that the men’s and women’s tours are “happening or almost there” with the USTA waiting for a green light from local and state health officials.

“We’re following each step in the procedure that we need to with the great hope that we can announce that the 2020 U.S. Open will be played in its regularly scheduled date,” USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said in an email to Reuters.

“We hope to make an announcement regarding the status of the 2020 U.S. Open in the very near future.”

Tennis has been on hold since March due to COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown will extend until August. While the Wimbledon was cancelled, the French Open was moved to September and is scheduled to start one week after the US Open men’s final. The likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have expressed concerns about attending the tournament whereas Nick Kyrgios has slammed the organisers for being “selfish”.

Meanwhile, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was turned into a temporary hospital to help the country combat the deadly virus.

The US Open 2018 drew an all-time attendance record of nearly 740,000 fans.