Wimbledon will cancel this year’s Championships on Wednesday and tennis expert Barry Cowan thinks he knows why they did not copy the French Open and reschedule the event for later in the year.
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has seen all tennis tournaments postponed or cancelled until may.
With Wimbledon set to be the latest victim there will be no event scheduled until August at the very earliest.
However, Wimbledon opted to cancel their Championships instead of postponing them because they have insurance for any financial losses.
“Wimbledon have always looked to take the bigger picture,” Cowan told Sky Sports News.
“They have been very smart because they have insured themselves against an act of God so if the Championships are cancelled they won’t financially be hit.
“I’m not sure if it’s necessarily the case with the French. I am not sure if they had that in place.
“That is why the French made the strange decision, and they have been criticised by everyone connected with the sport, they just changed their date without anyone knowing.
“Wimbledon are mindful of that. Tennis is unfortunately at the moment, too many parties are not joining together.
“I think if Wimbledon were to arrange their Championships in the middle of August, what does that do to the US Open and tournaments beyond that.
“It’s not just the two weeks. You have got Queen’s and the lead-up tournaments to get ready for the grass-court tournaments.
“Sensibly Wimbledon are going to make that decision by Wednesday.”
With Wimbledon being a grass tournament it would not be suitable to be played after the summer ends.
“Wimbledon have said they are not going to play behind closed doors. So that is out of the equation,” Cowen added.
“Then it comes the question – well the Championships are the first week of July, so it’s three months.
“The time it takes to get Wimbledon ready. It is kind of a six-week time frame. Nobody is allowed on site so that is problematic.
“Then you have got the factor of the players and if the players are flying in from Africa, Asia, South America, I just don’t see it possible for the Championships to start at the beginning of July.
“Then comes the question of can they move it back a couple of weeks? They will still be in the same situation if you have it the end of July or beginning of August.
“Therefore it looks like on Wednesday it will be officially announced that Wimbledon will be cancelled for 2020 and we will have the Championships next year.
“It is really unfortunate for all concerned.”
