2020 ATP Calendar & COVID-19 Impact

And Roger for Wimbledon 2021 too!  Spelling error in the # though!!!

Sad, though not surprising, to see Wimbledon cancelled, but comforting to hear that Roger plans to be there next year!  

Rufus for all the info!


And this how Roger feels...  

Devastated https://t.co/Fg2c1EuTQY pic.twitter.com/cm1wE2VwIp

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 1, 2020

Good to hear from PMac who had tested positive for Covid-19...

Update... pic.twitter.com/5P1diSt98D

— Patrick McEnroe (@PatrickMcEnroe) March 31, 2020

I agree that because of the global nature of tennis, it will be very difficult for tennis to come back this year.  

Plus, they can't just start a tournament last minute.  None of the players are training right now.  They can't just turn up one day and expect to play at a top level.

Something to smile about... Gavrilova!  She should be on a stage, not a tennis court!

Quarantine workout from Pamela Pupkin! pic.twitter.com/nhlmxIsdDu

— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) April 2, 2020

Using this quarantine as an excuse to post this... but I’ve always been that crazy anyway lol pic.twitter.com/uIsLWVAUNo

— Daria Gavrilova (@Daria_gav) April 3, 2020

Cromar wrote:The dream: A gold medal for his birthday!

Perfectly in alignment with my thoughts for Roger, Cromar!
But further, I don't see why there shouldn't be play this year, when things are in better shape. 
As to who would and could come, that's up to each player. This happens, albeit on a smaller scale, every year, when those injured or otherwise unable to compete don't show up.
  It is too long a time to wait for more than a year, or thereabouts, before a tennis tournament. Once some control is achieved over this pandemic, there will be a breathless rush to get various things going.
 As to Roger, that football player, 42 yrs old, has signed with a team other than the one he's always played before? A great champion, like Roger?
 Tennis must go on: there is no way it should be postponed for too long. ATP recently stated that tournament play suspended until July/2020.

Hope beyond hope!...    Will we see Roger play on Oct. 27?  

What planet are we on!?  

This is Armstrong Stadium in BJK National Tennis Center. Other parts of the center will become a hospital. This stadium is a food prep & distribution center where hero staff will prepare up to 25,000 food packages daily, each w/2 days’ worth of meals for patients, workers & kids. pic.twitter.com/smh1YYkvmu

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) April 3, 2020

Sign and share... they deserve some support! https://t.co/O73b7JdDIm https://t.co/Sz1FE263Ny

— Cromar (@zattorc) April 4, 2020

Hopefully other federations will follow...

Britain's national tennis federation announces 20 million pound ($24.5 million) package of relief for its tennis community, including coaches, officials, clubs and lower-ranked pro players. Interest-free loans also available. Impressive & timely packagehttps://t.co/WCTewBh3wL

— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) April 3, 2020

Good attitude, tennis organizations! Onward. And it is wonderful to hear that Basel is planning for its turn in 2o2o. I like Base. and Halle, and Wimbledon so much. Wimbledon is the most challenging and wonderful place to see tennis in. The main court, with its roof, has a kind of harmony to it that allows it to feel  people-size. Coverage from there is usually  very good, so that the television gives a sense of court action and the proportions of the court area and the seats in general.
 Only one year did it have poor visual coverage, because during a match there was such tight and limited focus on the actual court and the players that it was disturbing. One always needs to have a sense of the surroundings. But by far it is the most prestigious and the most demanding place, a fitting tribute to tennis.
 I look forward to seeing Roger there, and in Basel, too. I hope that Halle will be active as well. And what about the Laver Cup? Boston...does not look to be in very good shape there overall.
 Furthermore, now is the time to strongly raise the issue of a grass 1000 ATP tournament! It is simply beyond belief that there isn't one!

Wimbledon and the entire grass season has been cancelled!

At this time, the USO is still planning to go ahead, but I wouldn't be surprised if they end up having to take the same road as Wimbledon. The Laver Cup could well be in jeopardy as well.

Glad to see Fabio happy and healthy!

Happy with my baby girl pic.twitter.com/UIbPhmfdWN

— Fabio Fognini (@fabiofogna) April 4, 2020

Rosaline wrote:ATP advise:

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/new-fedex-atp-rankings-released-and-frozen

In the punter comments below, inevitably the ND fans are on it immediately - they are always checking everywhere and just waiting for the chance to protect their hero and find some chance to give Roger a kicking!!!

So we get ND fans demanding his weeks at No.1 continue to accumulate in spite of no tennis and no opportunity for anyone else to challenge his No.1 with one punter whingeing that this is probably being done to save Roger... 

"ATP should have never counted the weeks when an active tournament was not being played (that is the weeks after ATP finals, in December, during Olympics and anytime in between when there is no tournament being played) ... that slighly modified count of weeks would be the true count of weeks at #1 and would also help automatically reflect the current scenario. The weeks when there is no tournaments especially at the year-end are always free weeks and do not add much value."

Now that leads to how many weeks would Roger, ND and Rafa have at No.1 under that ruling? 

Does anyone feel inclined to work it out?!

For the ND fans to compare this points freeze to the tennis off-season is unreasonable.
The off-season is a scheduled break for players to rest and recover from the rigors of the tour. The operative word being scheduled. 

This corona virus stoppage is totally unprecedented and no one knows how it will pan out. The initial resumption date of June 7th seems very unlikely and this forced disruption will likely continue for many more weeks.
I think ND fans may have equated this stoppage with the off-season because it was ~ 11 weeks long (with the June 7th resumption) and they felt that this is almost the same duration as the outer limit of the off-season (6-8 weeks). 

The other issue that's possibly irking ND fans is that Roger actually does benefit from the points freeze. As we know he had declared time out from the tour till June on account of his knee surgery. Without the freeze he would have lost ~40% of last year's points and would have likely fallen from #4 to #10 in the rankings. But for them to say that the ATP has declared the freeze to save Roger is ludicrous.

Yes, it's unreasonable of them but it's that hard core of ND fans who seem to be absolutely everywhere checking what's being said re their hero or re Roger and launching themselves as the slightest opportunity to kick Roger or insist ND is being unfairly treated. 

Yes, Roger does benefit as do some other players who are injured currently, but it's swings and roundabouts re injury and the ND fans know it perfectly well. But they can't ever resist wading in and bawling "unfair" or alternatively gloating when anything goes against Roger.

Cromar wrote:
What planet are we on!?  

This is Armstrong Stadium in BJK National Tennis Center. Other parts of the center will become a hospital. This stadium is a food prep & distribution center where hero staff will prepare up to 25,000 food packages daily, each w/2 days’ worth of meals for patients, workers & kids. pic.twitter.com/smh1YYkvmu

— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) April 3, 2020

>>The Gillette Stadium Parking lot is being used for screenings of First Responders, Policemen, Firefighters etc. It is only miles from my house. 
>>Hope everyone is safe and this will be over soon!!

Rosaline wrote:Yes, it's unreasonable of them but it's that hard core of ND fans who seem to be absolutely everywhere checking what's being said re their hero or re Roger and launching themselves as the slightest opportunity to kick Roger or insist ND is being unfairly treated. 

Yes, Roger does benefit as do some other players who are injured currently, but it's swings and roundabouts re injury and the ND fans know it perfectly well. But they can't ever resist wading in and bawling "unfair" or alternatively gloating when anything goes against Roger.

The "ics" are desperate for Djoker to surpass Roger on any front.  They know he will never be beloved the way Roger is, so they want all the stats.  Djoker may very well pass the overall weeks at #1 with or without the rankings freeze.  But he'll never have the consecutive weeks! 

And yes, Roger is absolutely benefiting from the rankings freeze as we know he wouldn't be playing now anyway.   But for the "ics" to think the stats should still be counting during this freeze, that's just them being jerks.  This is not the same as the schedule time off between the YEC and the start of the next year.  That happens every year.  This stoppage is unprecedented and no way should this count for or against any streak.  No one knows how long this will last.  What if the tour doesn't come back until next year???  Is Djoker supposed to add nearly a free year at #1??  I don't think so.  Frozen means frozen.