It’s official! For the first time since the World War II, the Wimbledon Championships, one of the four lawn tennis grandslam tournaments held in the calendar year, will be postponed due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
For the first time since 1975, the oldest slam that has survived everything but the two World Wars since 1877, will not be held.
Meanwhile, reacting to this news, 8-time Champion Roger Federer has expressed his feelings. Taking to Twitter, FedEx responded with a simple word: “devastated.” Federer’s last final appearance was at Wimbledon, where he lost a five-set thriller to familiar foe, Novak Djokovic.
Wimbledon was initially scheduled to be held for two weeks starting from June 29. Novak Djokovic from Serbia and Simona Halep from Romania were set to defend their men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively.
Halep took to Twitter to express her disappointment. "So sad to hear Wimbledon won't take place this year […] Last year's final will forever be one of the happiest days of my life! But we are going through something bigger than tennis and Wimbledon will be back! And it means I have even longer to look forward to defending my title”, she tweeted.
Two-time champion Petra Kvitova, who is especially fond of the grass surface that suits her power-hitting game, wrote, “Definitely a tough one to take, with the announcement of the cancellation of Wimbledon this year.”
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