ATP chief eyes August return

Gaudenzi however admits it is possible season may not restart

CANBERRA: ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said Thursday that he remained optimistic the tennis season could resume in August but warned that not being able to play again this year was a possibility due to the coronavirus.

"Nobody knows when we can go back to playing in total safety: talking about August, September, November is all hypothetical, we can't bang our heads against the wall for something that maybe won't even happen because we could even start next year," said Gaudenzi.

Speaking during a telephone interview with the Italian media from his home in London, Gaudenzi said he hoped that the season could return in August.

"We have made 50 versions of the calendar that we change day by day," said the 43-year-old Italian who took over as ATP boss in January.

"I am quite optimistic about autumn and even partially about summer," he told the Ubitennis blog.

"If we manage to start again in August, we'll save three Slams and six Masters 1000, otherwise the problems will increase tenfold."

Tennis has been in lockdown since early last month and is not scheduled to return until July 13 at the earliest following the cancellation of Wimbledon for the first time since World War II.

The decision to axe the sport's oldest and most prestigious Grand Slam event followed the French Open's unilateral switch from its traditional May-June slot to September-October.

"There is a great concern, many questions - when will we play again? - and few answers, nobody knows when we will be able to resume," the Italian said.

"One thing is certain, we immediately chose health and safety as our primary strategy.

"We cancelled Indian Wells when the NBA was still playing, a risky strategy because in Indian Wells all the players were already there, eager to play.

"We contemplated the option of playing behind closed doors, but then we immediately decided not."

Gaudenzi said ideally the ATP would like to play four weeks on clay in the autumn after the US Open with tournaments in Madrid, Rome and the French Open.

There will be no sanctions against Roland Garros organisers for their decision to postpone the tournament without consultation, he stressed.