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US Open plans dealt devastating blow with the Citi Open reportedly ready to cancel over travel issue


The Washington Open is reportedly on the brink of being forced to cancel in a blow that could also end hopes of the US Open going ahead.

The Citi Open, which is usually held in Washington, has been moved to flushing Meadows this year on safety grounds due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is currently scheduled to be the event to herald the return of the ATP Tour in early August as was set to be headlined by Daniil Medvedev, Kei Nishikori, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

However, reports on social media on Sunday night claimed it was ready to announce it would be cancelling this week.

The principal reason within the report is the European Union’s decision to keep the boarder with the United States closed. Players would be allowed to travel there, but they would need to quarantine for two weeks upon their return to Europe.

However, with the European clay season set to begin immediately after the US swing, that would mean anyone playing in the US Open would be forced to miss the Madrid Masters and the Rome Masters.

They are prestigious events in their own rights, but it would also leave players unable to prepare for the rescheduled French Open.

From a rankings points position, the European clay season is more valuable to players than the US swing, so it’s difficult to envisage them essentially taking themselves out of it.

A final decision on whether the US Open can go ahead is expected in late July, but without the biggest names players it seems unlikely they would decide to push ahead.


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.