The Rogers Cup is now in jeopardy after the Government of Quebec has called for the cancellations of all festivals and public sporting events until August 31. The Coupe Rogers, which is set to host the WTA in Montreal, is schedule from 10 to 16 August.
The tournament immediately released a statement saying that it would convene with the WTA and have an official statement on Saturday.
The Rogers Cup in Toronto, set for the same dates but for the ATP Tour, would hypothetically not be affected because Ontario government has not released any statement regarding public event cancellations.
“We understand the decision coming from the Government of Quebec who has to consider the health and safety of the Quebec population,” stated Eugène Lapierre, Tournament Director of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal. “Our priority in the management of this crisis has always been to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our players, fans, volunteers, partners and employees and therefore our decisions will reflect this. We will work with the WTA to make an official announcement on the status of the Rogers Cup by tomorrow.”
The news begins to threaten the already fragile status of the North American hard court summer due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Currently all tour events are cancelled through July 13, but the tours hope to begin play in time to save the US Open series.
In a statement to reporters earlier in the week, ATP Chief Executive Andrea Gaudenzi said he is currently planning on a full resumption in mid-July, but admitted that he and his team have approximately 50 variations of the current calendar with best and worst case scenarios all taken into account.
More to follow...