By Tennis Now | Monday, May 11, 2020

 

ATP CEO Andrea Gaudenzi says it would be "unwise" to close the curtain on the 2020 season and is optimistic tennis can resume this season.

Photo credit: ATP Tour

The coronavirus crisis has largely stopped sport, but the ATP isn't giving up hope to continue the season.

The ATP and WTA jointly extended the suspension of the pro circuit until July 13th.

More: Roland Garros May Play Without Fans

As speculation swirls over possibly resuming—or ending— the season over the outbreak, Andrea Gaudenzi says it would be premature to close the curtain on the 2020 season now.

The ATP Chief is maintaining an optimistic outlook and hopeful tennis can continue in some form—including without spectators—this season.

"It would be unwise to call it quits now," Gaudenzi said in comments published by Sky Sport. "Nobody knows what will happen, we want to keep an optimistic overview.

"Obviously, there could be a subset of options, which is playing with closed gates or deciding how to deal with travel restrictions. But we have not made these decisions so far because they are all hypothetical scenarios."

The ATP will decide by the end of this week whether to try to play tournaments scheduled for July or continue suspension of the season.

"We have set a deadline of May 15 for the tournaments in July, post Wimbledon," Gaudenzi said. "And June 1 for the tournaments in August. So we are, in principle, dealing it on I would say six to eight weeks in advance in time for making a decision. Longer than that, it would be foolish to make decisions in my opinion."

The US Open is currently scheduled to start on August 31st.

USTA CEO Mike Dowse says the USTA will make a decision on the US Open's status in June. Dowse says it's "highly unlikely" the Flushing Meadows major will play without fans. 

"Their announcement might be a little bit later, we don't know," Gaudenzi said of the US Open. "Once we get to the beginning of June, we will probably know more about the US summer."