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Thursday, 28 March 2024

U.S. Open decision to be made in June - behind closed doors unlikely

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U.S. Open decision to be made in June - behind closed doors unlikely
U.S. Open decision to be made in June - behind closed doors unlikely

The organisers of the U.S. Open say a decision on whether to hold the grand slam this year amid the coronavirus outbreak will be made in June, and playing it without fans is on the table but highly unlikely.

RESENDING WITH UPDATED SCRIPT VIDEO SHOWS: EXTERIORS OF ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM / EXTERIOR OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM / FANS INSIDE FLUSHING MEADOWS DURING U.S. OPEN / ROGER FEDERER AND RAFAEL NADAL PRACTISING / NOVAK DJOKOVIC POSING WITH AUSTRALIAN OPEN TROPHY / DJOKOVIC PRACTISING / BIANCA ANDREESCU POSING WITH U.S. OPEN TROPHY / SERENA WILLIAMS POSING WITH U.S. OPEN TROPHY / WILLIAMS PRACTISING / COCO GAUFF PRACTISING / SOFIA KENIN POSING WITH AUSTRALIAN OPEN TROPHY SHOWS: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 28, 2017) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1.

EXTERIOR OF ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 27, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2.

VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM 3.

PEOPLE WALKING PAST U.S. OPEN SIGN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 23, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4.

U.S. OPEN SIGN NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 27, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 5.

THE UNISPHERE SCULPTURE (LARGE STEEL GLOBE) IN FLUSHING MEADOWS-CORONA PARK NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 28, 2017) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6.

UNISPHERE SCULPTURE 7.

PEOPLE MAKING THEIR WAY TO MATCHES 8.

PEOPLE WATCHING A TENNIS MATCH 9.

PEOPLE SEATED 10.

PEOPLE WALKING NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 23, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 11.

PEOPLE WALKING 12.

PERFORMER ON STILTS 13.

EXTERIOR OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE - NOVEMBER 8, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 14.

VARIOUS OF FIVE-TIME U.S. OPEN CHAMPION ROGER FEDERER AT PRACTICE AHEAD OF ATP TOUR FINALS 15.

VARIOUS OF FOUR-TIME AND DEFENDING U.S. OPEN CHAMPION RAFAEL NADAL AT PRACTICE MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (FILE - FEBRUARY 3, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 16.

VARIOUS OF THREE-TIME U.S. OPEN CHAMPION NOVAK DJOKOVIC POSING WITH AUSTRALIAN OPEN TROPHY AND KISSING TROPHY BELGRADE, SERBIA (FILE - JUNE 19, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 17.

DJOKOVIC GIVING OUT SWEATBANDS TO CHILDREN 18.

VARIOUS OF DJOKOVIC PRACTICING LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE - NOVEMBER 8, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 19.

DJOKOVIC PRACTISING NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - SEPTEMBER 8, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 20.

VARIOUS OF DEFENDING U.S. OPEN WINNER BIANCA ANDREESCU POSING WITH TROPHY NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 22, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 21.

U.S. OPEN TROPHIES AT 2019 DRAW NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - SEPTEMBER 10, 2012) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 22.

SIX-TIME U.S. OPEN CHAMPION SERENA WILLIAMS POSING WITH TROPHY IN CENTRAL PARK NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 20, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 23.

WILLIAMS AT NIKE EVENT LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE - JUNE 28, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 24.

WILLIAMS SEATED TALKING TO HER SISTER VENUS 25.

WILLIAMS PRACTISING 26.

16-YEAR-OLD WORLD NUMBER 52 COCO GAUFF POSING FOR PHOTOS WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE - JULY 26, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 27.

GAUFF PRACTICING BEFORE CITI OPEN TOURNAMENT MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (FILE - FEBRUARY 2, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 28.

VARIOUS OF AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPION SOFIA KENIN POSING WITH TROPHY STORY: The organisers of the U.S. Open said on Thursday (April 16) a decision on whether to hold the grand slam this year amid the coronavirus outbreak will be made in June, and playing it without fans is on the table but highly unlikely.

The U.S. Open, which is scheduled to run from Aug.

31 to Sept.

13, is both the largest and loudest of the four grand slam events on the tennis calendar and United States Tennis Association (USTA) chief executive Mike Dowse does not anticipate that changing.

The U.S. Open is held annually in New York City, which is the hardest hit U.S. city in the coronavirus pandemic and this week revised its official COVID-19 death toll sharply higher to more than 10,000.

The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which is the home of the U.S. Open, has even been turned into temporary hospital to help in the battle against the coronavirus.

Last year's U.S. Open drew an all-time attendance record of nearly 740,000 fans and the event is the engine that drives the USTA, which is governing body for the sport in the country.

The French Open, the first Grand Slam to be hit by the spread of the coronavirus, moved the claycourt event to Sept.

20-Oct.

4 from its traditional May start while the Wimbledon championships, set to begin in late June, were cancelled.

The USTA also announced a commitment of more than $50 million in spending to help the sport weather what it described as the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the plan, the governing body for tennis in the United States said it will identify more than $20 million in savings by reducing salaries of its management and eliminating programmes in player development and operations.

The USTA, along with its partners, will offer economic assistance packages, increased support to navigate government assistance for facilities and coaches, as well as webinars and phone support to help individuals impacted from COVID-19.

The USTA, says the extent of its future support will be determined by the financial performance of the grand slam.

Both the men's ATP Tour and the WTA, which runs the women's circuit, have suspended all tournaments until June 7 after countries started locking down borders to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

(Production: Stefan Haskins)

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