Former US Open quarterfinalist Henri Leconte says the Flushing Meadows major should pull the plug this year.

The US Open is scheduled to start on August 31st—without fans or media—with the USTA creating a safety bubble for players to protect them from the Coronavirus.

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Leconte says there are three main reasons the US Open must cancel.

The former world No. 5 does not believe many top European stars will travel to New York City to play the Open; while New York has seen COVID-19 cases decline, the virus is still spreading in the majority of states in the nation making some players uncomfortable; and Leconte doesn't believe a Grand Slam should be staged behind closed doors.



"You have to cancel the US Open," Leconte told Ouest France. "I think a lot of players are not going to go. First for health reasons, the pandemic is far from over.

“We cannot play a Grand Slam tournament behind closed doors . I don't even dare imagine the atmosphere it would give. We saw this with Patrick Mouratoglou's Ultimate Tennis Showdown, watching a game from your screen does not have the same flavor."

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