Wimbledon will become the second tennis Grand Slam to fall victim this season to the coronavirus, according to reports.
The All England Club are set to announce its marquee tournament will be cancelled this summer after holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday, reports The Telegraph.
The All England Club, which hosts Wimbledon, are understood to have originally given themselves until the end of next month to make a decision – when they traditionally begin building stands – but the rapidly developing pandemic has reportedly forced their hand.
This year’s event was to be played from June 29-July 12. Once announced, it would mark the first time the championships have been cancelled since the Second World War.
In an interview on Germany’s Sky Sports on Sunday, German tennis administrator Dirk Hordorff said Wimbledon would be called off, as would the grass-court events leading up to it.
“The grass tournaments have already decided not to play," said Hordorff, the vice-president of the German Tennis Federation.
"They are awaiting the announcement of Wimbledon on Wednesday. These are not rumours: they will announce the cancellation."
Speaking last week, All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis said: “The single most important consideration is one of public health. We are working hard to bring certainty to our plans for 2020.”
The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on all major sport, including tennis, with its ATP and WTA tours shutdown until June. Earlier this month, it was confirmed the French Open has been postponed, an option not available to Wimbledon because it is played on grass.
The French Tennis Federation’s decision to move the season’s second Grand Slam, initially set for May, to September has been heavily criticised by players.
With a new date of September 20-October 4, the Roland Garros event would begin only seven days after the US Open final in New York, meaning players would have to contest the clay court tournament in the middle of the hardcourt season.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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