ABDUL JABBAR FAISAL
ISLAMABAD (June 18, 2020):-The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced on Thursday that ITF World Tennis Tour would be resumed in August 2020, as the women’s events would kick off from August 3 while the men’s events from August 17. The both fixtures will include singles qualifying, main draw singles and doubles rounds. The announcements was made by the ATP, WTA, USTA and FFT regarding the resumption of the tours and the staging of the US Open and Roland Garros.
ITF is currently finalizing a provisional calendar of ITF World Tennis Tour events. ITF officials are keen to see as many tournaments scheduled as possible in order to maximize playing opportunities for athletes around the world, we want to ensure the health and safety of the athletes. The decision for an event to be held will remain at the discretion of individual tournaments to determine if it is feasible for their event to go ahead, and with the appropriate health, safety and integrity infrastructure in place. Tournaments will be played without spectators, unless local or national government regulations explicitly permit fans to attend sporting events.
As with the ATP and WTA provisional calendars, the ITF World Tennis Tour calendar is subject to change. The ITF expects that approximately 80 per cent of ITF World Tennis Tour events that would normally have been scheduled during the August-September period will be played this year and anticipates that more nations will apply to host tournaments as restrictions ease in those countries. Ranking points have been frozen since 16 March 2020. The ITF continues to discuss with the ATP and WTA Tours the most appropriate and fair reintroduction of ranking points across World Tennis Tour events.
At this stage, the planned resumption of international competition relates only to the men’s and women’s ITF World Tennis Tour. The ITF is mindful that players competing on the junior tennis, senior tennis, wheelchair tennis and beach tennis tours want to resume international competition as soon as possible, and further updates will be provided regarding these tours in due course.
David Haggerty, ITF President, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for our sport and, while acknowledging that there will still be challenges ahead, we are pleased that international tour competition will be able to resume in August. Restoring earning opportunities for athletes at the earliest possible opportunity – in a manner which protects the health and safety of all involved – has been a priority throughout this period.
“The sport has come together to support players financially during the pandemic and we will continue to work with our partners from across the tennis world – the tours, the Grand Slams and our 210 member National Associations – as we aim to safely resume international competition.”
Stuart Miller, ITF Senior Executive Director for Integrity & Development, added: “While tennis can be played in a socially-distanced fashion, it is important that tournaments resume with the correct health, safety and integrity infrastructure. We will work with the National Associations that are hosting events, in order to ensure that they have the correct measures in place.”
