Better late than never to cancel Wimbledon but what took them so long? - MW

The Hung jurors took less time than the All England Club to convict a villain who is entitled to the coronavirus. When the club council appears for three days and a few hours of reflection from a distance Wednesday afternoon to confirm that the 134th Wimbledon Championships, in fact, will be canceled, because the killer is still Harassment is not only the environment nice London SW19 but also the whole world. The question is: what is it that takes you so long?

There is a conservative clarity statement. When Ian Hewitt, the new president, said, "This is a decision we did not take lightly, it is worth it." Wimbledon isolates itself by following government directives to say as little as possible in difficult circumstances.

Of course, they came to the right conclusion: the health, safety and life of the players, staff and spectators should clearly replace pure sport, pure tennis, just Wimbledon. How could this be suspect?

The All England Club, in general, is modern in its state of mind and it is difficult not to know anything about the events which flood all the news. Just look across the pond to find light in the window.

On Tuesday, the US Tennis Association announced that it would provide the grounds and facilities for Flushing Meadows, possibly the setting for the US Open in August, for use as a temporary hospital. I cannot ignore the adhesion that the coronavirus causes in New York and the United States. Emergency hit. Wimbledon, too, can still serve as an over-spending hospital.

Earlier, Patrick McEnroe, who had reached the fourth round of the double in 1991 with his brother John, just a few kilometers from where they grew up, was confirmed as a porter the same day he died. in their city has increased by 1,000. The estimated number of permanent deaths in the United States is between 100,000 and 250,000. Uncertainty and reality collided with a blow for Americans and tennis.

Wimbledon management cannot avoid these and other numbers against lesser considerations of business order and organizational integrity. On Tuesday, Covid-19 claimed more lives in Britain, France and Spain than any other day of the pandemic. By the time the council emerged with a statement at 4 p.m., hundreds of others had died. There will be hundreds more, possibly thousands, by the end of this month, the last time Wimbledon can leave before the start of the eight weeks to prepare for the tournament.

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Removed is the idea of ​​a shorter version of the championship, with smaller crowds. They are also aware of optical optics, the outward impression of an organization that moves with glacial caution to escape one iceberg and enter another.

The rye looked very lush on the lawns cut by the All England Club to 13 mm and it took one month of dry weather, after 15 months of sowing. More numbers. Small windows. The temptation to wait weakens day by day and finally hour by hour.

What will the players think of it? Annabel Croft thinks the cancellation of Wimbledon will be a nightmare for 38-year-old legends Roger Federer and Serena Williams, who may never have the opportunity to add a total of 15 championships. of them. She may be right.

Life at the other end of the food chain is different. When Sofia Shapatava, the world's No. 375, petitioned for financial support during the match's suspension, it drew 650 signatures in one day, and minor party protests. outside the game, she thinks she's guilty of a special plea. The 31-year-old Georgian, who earned $ 354,725 in 16 years, described life without tennis in a conversation with like-minded fighter Sam Groth, an Australian retiree. Shapatava told Groth on his radio show, First Serve: Some players do not sell advertising, but another cannot pay the rent. I know many, many players [like that]. It is not a problem that has just appeared at the moment, or that will disappear tomorrow. It hit everyone very hard.

The price difference in the top and bottom tournaments is incredible. When you participate in a big competition, you get fifty dollars [in US dollars]. You lose the first round of disputes in a match25 [a low level tournament], after taxes, you watch $ 9, maybe $ 15, not even a meal. Many players cannot afford their daily living. Not everyone has someone who can help them.

It's hard for players like Shapatava - the vast majority, in other words - to think beyond a cheap flight to Kazakhstan, a budget hotel or a shared room, the risk of eligibility, of the game by entering the main draw, Where failure is often to be found. It is the only life they know. But they should also know that they are sharing a boat with Federer, Williams and the solid citizens of the All England Club at the moment, not to mention those who will be transferred to temporary beds at Flushing Meadows next week.

A few emails fall. The first is from the Tennis Integrity Unit, to say that the unclassified English tennis player Patrick Keane was banned for six months and fined $ 500 for betting on tennis outside the tennis court. You have to admire your time. Obviously, his income is small enough to cause madness.

The second is from Thierry Ascione, trainer Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ,. His people wonder if there is an interest in exploring esports with them. Probably not. But that's what we've been shortening for a while: virtual sports, pretending to be tennis, waiting for the world we know to reorganize.

MW