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U.S. Open To Be Held In Queens At End Of Summer Without Spectators Present
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Ben Yakas
Published Jun 16, 2020
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 16, 2020
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Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday morning that the U.S. Open tennis tournament will indeed take place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens later this summer—but with no spectators in the stands.
"We're excited about the U.S. Open, [which] is going to be held in Queens, August 31st through September 13th. It will be held without fans, but you can watch it on TV—and I'll take that," Cuomo said at his daily briefing. "The tennis authorities are going to be taking extraordinary precautions, but that's going to take place."
He later specified that those precautions will include "robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space, and dedicated housing & transportation."
"We are incredibly excited that Governor Cuomo and New York State have today approved our plan to host the 2020 U.S. Open," Mike Dowse, USTA chief executive officer and executive director, said in a statement. "We recognize the tremendous responsibility of hosting one of the first global sporting events in these challenging times, and we will do so in the safest manner possible, mitigating all potential risks. We now can give fans around the world the chance to watch tennis' top athletes compete for a U.S. Open title, and we can showcase tennis as the ideal social distancing sport."
Not everyone is thrilled with the news: some major tennis players have raised concerns about the tournament happening in NYC, and implied they may not participate as a result. That includes the two top ranked men's players, Rafael Nadal (who called it "not an ideal situation") and Novak Djokovic (who said many players "were quite negative" about playing the U.S. Open this year); and Ashleigh Barty, the top rated women's player, who told The Associated Press, "I understand the tournaments are eager to run but keeping everyone safe has to be the priority."
The most vocal has been Nick Kyrgios, the 40th ranked men's player in the world, who tweeted that it was "selfish" to hold the tournament while the pandemic is still happening.
While tennis is getting up and running, the other major sports leagues are having a much harder time trying to restart this summer. Despite both sides saying they want a season to happen, owners and players in Major League Baseball are currently locked in a dispute over prorated salaries, legal waivers, and safety concerns because of the pandemic. After saying last week that "unequivocally, we are going to play Major League Baseball this year," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred walked back those comments with ESPN on Monday. "I'm not confident. I think there's real risk, and as long as there's no dialogue, that real risk is going to continue," he said.
The LA Times reported that the commissioner's office told the players' association that it would not honor the players’ demand to announce a schedule "unless the union waives legal claims against the league." And to top it off, MLB also informed the players union this week that several major league players and coaches have tested positive for COVID-19.
Things also appear increasingly unsettled for the NBA. Despite the fact that the league has approved a 22-team return plan for the end of July, and the league’s player representatives unanimously signed off on it, there is growing unrest among players, reportedly led by Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving. ESPN reported, "On a call that included nearly 100 players and several stars on Friday night, Irving made an impassioned plea for players to make a stand and sit out the season's resumption in Orlando," citing the dangers of the virus and the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.
Since then, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been trying to calm people's concerns, but he admitted he didn't know where things will end up: “Listen, it’s not an ideal situation,” he said. “We are trying to find a way to our own normalcy in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of essentially a recession or worse with 40 million unemployed, and now with enormous social unrest in the country. And so as we work through these issues, I can understand how some players may feel, that it’s not for them...it may be for family reasons, it may be for health reasons they have, or it may be because they feel—as some players have said very recently—that their time is best spent elsewhere.”
On the plus side, the WNBA has approved a 22-game season, beginning in late July, along with a full playoff schedule, which will all take place at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida (more specifics to come). And the NHL is still planning on returning sometimes later this summer or in the fall for the playoffs, though the details of that return are also still being worked out.
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hockey
tennis
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baseball
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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