The All England Club announced Wednesday that the Wimbledon Championships, scheduled to start June 29, will not be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the first time since the Second World War in 1945 that the world’s premier grass-court event won’t be staged.
“I wasn’t really too surprised,” said ATP Player Council member Vasek Pospisil. “It was one of those decisions that was expected, especially with all the tournaments being cancelled left, right and centre. It doesn’t look like there will be tennis anytime soon so it was an announcement that was bound to happen … there’s no doubt it’s the right call.”
It was an expected decision taken for the right reasons, but it still hit hard for Pospisil, who won the 2014 Wimbledon doubles title alongside Jack Sock and also made the singles quarterfinals in 2015, his best result at any major.
“It’s the biggest tournament in the world,” he said. “It’s the most prestigious tennis event out there with so much history. For me, it was a dream to play Wimbledon. I don’t want to overstate it, because there’s four grand slams, but when you think of tennis you think of one tournament and it’s Wimbledon. Like, Wimbledon is tennis. You know, for me at least, that’s kind of how I look at it.”
It is with great regret that the AELTC has today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic.
The 134th Championships will instead be staged from 28 June to 11 July 2021.https://t.co/c0QV2ymGAt
Also on Wednesday, the ATP and WTA announced all events at all levels have been cancelled through July 13. Tennis is a global sport with players from all over the world converging at different tournaments in different countries so it may be one of the last sports to return to regular events.
“To be honest, I would be surprised if there was any play at least before the fall or late summer just with the way things are going,” Pospisil said. “I feel like even in a best-case scenario, let’s say this pandemic really starts slowing down and there’s fewer cases and the curve starts to flatten, there will still be a very long period of caution that I would expect the governing bodies around the world to take into consideration. I’m a very optimistic person in general, that’s my nature, but I also try to be pretty realistic … I’d be pretty surprised if there was any tennis this summer.”
It will be up to Pospisil and other Council members to help the ATP Tour move forward in these uncertain times. Among the pressing concerns, how to support lower-ranked players dealing with economic hardships. Also on the docket, devising a new rankings system to take into account the season pause. Pospisil spoke to TSN via Skype on Wednesday from Whistler, B.C., and shared some insight on what the Council is considering at the moment. The 29-year-old also reflected on a strong start to his season, which saw him surge back into the top 100 with the help of some maple syrup.
The following is an edited transcript of the interview.
What’s life on the Player Council like right now? How busy are you?
“You have guys ranked below 100, let’s say 100 to 300 or lower even, that suddenly are really struggling to kind of get by. The guys who are ranked top 100 and a little higher, we at least have financial security, so that’s an issue that’s pressing. That’s something they need to take into consideration very quickly and I think that is where we can give a little bit of feedback and ideas, because we’re representing the players and looking out for their best interests.
“On top of that, I can’t imagine all the moving parts logistically and how complicated this matter (tour suspension) is and they’re dealing with that internally and we’re giving very little feedback for those matters as should be the case, because that’s not our speciality, that’s not what we do and I don’t think our opinion on those internal matters are valuable. So, we’re not actually having too many calls. Our last one was seven or eight days ago and it was specifically on the player matter side so I expect our next call to be in a few days or maybe next week. I get a lot of people who are like, ‘You must be so busy with all this,’ but actually we’re maybe even less busy, because the ATP is just dealing with so much more than some of the player matters.”
What are some of the ideas to help players in financial need?
“I know the ATP is coming up with something. They’ve been telling us, ‘Guys, standby, we’re going to have something for the general player group, some ideas that we’ll share with you shortly.’ So we’re waiting and giving them time, because we understand this is not an easy situation. I’ve had some some conversations internally and there’s different ways we can approach it. Maybe something from the pension plan, maybe the ATP has some funds that we’re not even aware about that are for extreme cases, we’re not sure, or maybe it’s from the ATP Tour Finals. I’m not sure we’ll even have an ATP Finals even if the tour does start again. The whole concept of that event at the end of the year is that you have a full season and the best eight players duke it out for a lot of money and points, but if you only have a few months of the calendar maybe then suddenly that event doesn’t have as much credibility, because it would only be based on a few months of events so maybe there’s some funds that could be taken from that and given to the lower-ranked guys. So, there’s a lot of different ways you can approach it, but it’s all pending right now.”
Will the French Tennis Federation face any penalty for unilaterally moving the dates of Roland Garros?
“The discussion about a penalty is being had right now, for sure, full transparency on that. The issue that we had and when I say ‘we’ I mean the tennis community … is not the actual postponement of the event. I think it went without saying that nobody was expecting the French Open to be played at the time it was initially scheduled so postponing was always going to be something that was discussed. The issue was they took the decision unilaterally and went on their own without discussing things with the governing bodies in tennis, the other grand slams, the players or anybody. I mean, they just did it themselves and my theory is, and it’s relatively logical, they figured they’d ask for forgiveness rather than permission, because they think they may have never gotten that slot and maybe other tournaments wouldn’t have agreed to it so they didn’t want to take that risk. They were looking out just for themselves and weren’t worried about everybody being on the same team in this situation. It was a very surprising … and definitely doesn’t set a good precedent so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some fallout from that decision.”
Is it possible the ATP won’t award points for the French Open? Is that something being considered?
“That would be one approach, for sure. This is not something the players are discussing, to be honest. Everybody has their own opinion. I have my own opinion and, of course, I’m all about fairness, transparency, working together so I do feel there has to be a penalty. Whether it’s about points, I don’t know. Whether it’s financial, I’m not sure … this is something the ATP, I’m sure, is dealing with. I’m sure they understand the kind of precedent a decision like that will make so I’m sure it’s on their radar and we’ll see what comes from it. There have to be some kind of repercussions for that, for sure.”
This is such a difficult time. Everyone is being impacted by this catastrophe. Enhancing communication & working together to find solutions should be the priority. Not going Rogue & making selfish/arrogant decisions to further impact the tour in a negative way. #RolandGarros
When it comes to the rankings is it just the freeze is the freeze and everybody stays put until play resumes or are there other ideas for that?
“This is probably where we’re most involved in giving feedback from the player side and the Council and that was, specifically, what we were discussing on the last call, floating around ideas. The ATP had done a lot of work to come up with their three best formulas and options so they have three we’re all looking at right now. There’s no rush to make a decision on that since there’s no tennis and the rankings aren’t moving around right now, they’ve put a freeze on them until it’s decided how they’re going to calculate the rankings moving forward. Obviously, there’s so many variables depending on when tennis starts up again. The No. 1 most important thing is that it’s fair all across the board for all the players, because different players could be hurt at different ranking levels and different parts of the season depending on what option you go with. There’s an option there that seems to be the most fair across the board, but for now it’s internal and we’ll hopefully come up with something soon.”
OK, let’s talk about some actual tennis. You’ve raised your ranking 53 spots since play opened in January. What’s clicking?
“Pretty much since my comeback (from back surgery last summer), I’ve really been playing great tennis. When I took eight months off tour, I didn’t hold a racquet for five months, I just had a little reset in my life. I came back fully healthy, no issues and that’s the first time in five or six years I felt that. I had a new team around me, a fitness trainer. And then, also, just I came back with a new perspective on the sport and my life. I was very busy during the time that I was injured so I gave myself security and confidence so when I came back on the court I was a little more relaxed.
I was more relaxed because I feel like I have my identity and I know what I’m going to do after my career so I put less pressure on myself on the court. Also, just being so excited to be on the court, because I didn’t know if I’d ever be playing at a high level, all those different variables come into play. I feel like I’m playing some of the best tennis I’ve ever played and hopefully I don’t gain too much weight and I’m able to stay fit (smile) and obviously I will and I’ll be ready to roll again once the tour starts. But that’s not something on my radar now, because of what’s going on and there’s other priorities that need to be taken care of world-wide and even for myself so tennis is on hold and there are more important things than sport, obviously.”
You created quite a buzz on social media by drinking maple syrup during matches. Were you surprised how much attention you received?
“Totally surprised. I’ve had people ask me, ‘Oh, that was hilarious, did you script that?’ And, honestly, the story behind it is I just ran out of energy gels in my semifinal match (in Montpellier), because I used like 10 of them and I was playing the finals on Sunday and everything was closed in France. I thought I’d be able to go out and buy something. I travel with maple syrup and I use it religiously on everything almost, but never actually used it on the tennis court. My physio and I were brainstorming and we’re like, yeah, I can use my maple syrup, no problem. And I didn’t think anything of it, because I’m just used to using it on everything. I’m Canadian and it’s maple syrup, no big deal. It wasn’t until after the match and it went viral, it wasn’t until then that I realized it was pretty hilarious. It was a funny time. I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
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You hinted on Twitter before Indian Wells got called off that you’d be playing doubles with Sock for the first time since 2016. Whenever tennis returns will the PopSocks doubles team be reunited?
“Yeah, I think so. We planned to play Indian Wells and Miami, we were excited about it and made a little announcement on social media. We didn’t have any concrete plans in terms of playing throughout the season. We were just going to play Indian Wells and Miami and see how it goes, but now that we’ve built some hype, at least in the doubles world, it’s pretty safe to say we’ll definitely come back and play a couple events and take it from there. I’m excited to play with Jack again. Obviously, we had an amazing run and had a great time when we were on the court and I was away from the doubles court a little bit the last few years, because my singles ranking dropped a bit so I’m hoping I can play more doubles.”
TSN is airing some classic matches to fill the time until the tour returns. Certainly, your Wimbledon championship match with Jack against the Bryan brothers in 2014 may be on the list. What matches would you want featured?
“Good question. Definitely that one would be one of them. I would say when I beat Andy Murray when he was world No. 1 at Indian Wells a few years ago. I think when I played Tomas Berdych at the Rogers Cup, that was my first top-10 win, back in 2013 before my little run and then some of the Davis Cup highlight reel, I’ve had quite a few great Davis Cup moments, playing doubles with Daniel (Nestor) and singles wins, even this last Davis Cup. Those are my top picks off the top of my head. It’s been a wild ride and hopefully there will be more of those kinds of matches to come.”
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.
The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.
Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.
Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.
The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
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CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.
Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.
Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.
It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.
Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.
Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.
It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.
Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.
With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.
The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.
The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.
An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”
Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.
There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.
Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.
“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”
Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.
“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.
“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”
The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).
The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.
Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).
The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.
To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.
“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”
A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.
The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.
“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)
Wednesday, Providence Park
HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.
ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.
POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.
Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.
The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.
There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.
The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.
It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.
“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.
Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.
More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.
The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”
Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.
