LONDON: Cancelling Wimbledon is the only realistic option open to organizers as they grapple with the chaos caused by the coronavirus, says two-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion Jamie Murray.
Tennis is at a standstill until June 7, with the entire European clay-court season already wiped out and the only Grand Slam event played on grass is expected to be officially canceled on Wednesday.
Wimbledon organizers have ruled out playing the two-week tournament, slated to run from June 29 to July 12, behind closed doors.
The French Open has already been postponed, shoehorned into the schedule in late September, and it will be difficult for Wimbledon to rearrange.
Murray, a Wimbledon men’s doubles finalist in 2015 and a two-time mixed doubles champion, said postponing the tournament presented a series of hurdles, including shorter evenings.
“I think for them, it’s difficult to move the tournament back because you’re running into other tournaments that are for the moment still on the schedule,” the 34-year-old Scotsman told the BBC on Tuesday.
“And also just things like daylight to host the event. Each week that passes, you get less and less light to play the tournament.
“Obviously they play until nine and 10 o’clock each night at Wimbledon.”
Murray, whose younger brother Andy is a two-time Wimbledon singles champion, is kicking his heels in the absence of tennis.
“I’m just at home, taking the necessary precautions, and trying to stay as active as I can,” he said.
“It’s different. We’re used to being on the road all the time, used to being in different cities every week, and you kind of become institutionalized to that.”
Wimbledon will be canceled, believes Jamie Murray
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Wimbledon will be canceled, believes Jamie Murray
- Tennis is at a standstill until June 7, with the entire European clay-court season already wiped out and the only Grand Slam event played on grass is expected to be officially canceled
- Wimbledon organizers have ruled out playing the two-week tournament behind closed doors
Kane helps Bayern past Leipzig into German Cup semis
- Bayern join defending champions Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg in the last four of this season’s competition
MUNICH, Germany: Harry Kane scored a penalty and Luis Diaz struck again as Bayern Munich beat RB Leipzig 2-0 on Wednesday to reach the German Cup semifinals for the first time since 2020.
Already on the wrong side of two Bayern thumpings this season, Leipzig were much improved but the hosts grabbed hold of the match with two goals in four second-half minutes.
Bayern join defending champions Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg in the last four of this season’s competition.
Kane’s penalty was his 39th goal in all competitions for Bayern this season, while Diaz’s goal was his fifth in his past three matches.
Winners of this competition a record 20 times, 14 more than any other club, Bayern had failed to make it past the quarter-finals since 2020, when they beat Leverkusen in the final.
Leipzig had won two of the past four German Cups but Bayern had form over the visitors this season, winning their two Bundesliga clashes by a combined score of 11-1.
Leipzig pressured the hosts early and were celebrating a goal after just four minutes, but an acrobatic Christoph Baumgartner strike was disallowed for a narrow offside.
Bayern immediately made the most of the let-off, Kane forcing a last-ditch clearance from Ridle Baku with the Leipzig goalkeeper laying on the turf.
The home side gradually wrestled control of the match and were unlucky not to take the lead with 57 minutes gone when Leipzig ‘keeper Maarten Vandevoordt denied Serge Gnabry with a stunning save.
Bayern were in front just five minutes later, Kane converting from the spot after Vandevoordt felled an advancing Josip Stanisic in the box.
Kane’s spot-kick, his fifth goal versus Leipzig this season, was his 12th penalty in all competitions this campaign.
Bayern’s goals this season have come in bursts and the Bavarians scored again just four minutes later, when Michael Olize found Diaz on the counter to help book a spot in the final four.
The German Cup final will be held at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on May 23.
