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Wimbledon organisers committed to staging 2021 Championships

Wimbledon organisers appear determined to avoid a repeat of 2020's cancelled Championships.  The...
Richie McCormack
Richie McCormack

16.11 16 Oct 2020


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Wimbledon organisers committed...

Wimbledon organisers committed to staging 2021 Championships

Richie McCormack
Richie McCormack

16.11 16 Oct 2020


Share this article


Wimbledon organisers appear determined to avoid a repeat of 2020's cancelled Championships. 

The tennis world's annual pilgrimage to London SW19 was shelved for the first time since World War II as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the end, it was the only one of the year's four Grand Slams to be outright cancelled. The US Open went ahead in its appointed window, albeit behind closed doors.

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While a trickle of spectators were allowed inside Roland Garros for French Open fortnight which culminated last week with wins for Iga Swiatek and Rafa Nadal.

The All-England Club (AELTC) insist their plan is for the 2021 Championships to be staged as close to normal as may be possible.

They say they're "considering multiple operational scenarios", with eight months to go until the start of Wimbledon 2021.

The three scenarios they're exploring are a full-capacity Championships, a reduced capacity Championships, and a ‘behind closed doors’ Championships, all of which are dependent on the status of UK government and public health guidelines.

"Staging The Championships in 2021 is our number one priority," said AELTC chief executive Sally Bolton, "And we are actively engaged in scenario planning in order to deliver on that priority."

One of the by-products of a fallow summer at the All-England Club was 30,000 towels intended for the Championships going unused.

Through the Wimbledon Foundation, the WJTI, and the AELTC, towels were donated to the British Red Cross for their refugee projects, homelessness charity Crisis, Merton key workers, Wandsworth key workers and the Hygiene Bank, a community initiative which gives hygiene, personal care and household cleaning products to those in need across the UK.


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AELTC All England Club Coronavirus Covid-19 French Open Iga Swiatek Pandemic Rafa Nadal Tennis US Open Wimbledon

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