This year’s Wimbledon tennis championships have been canceled for the first time in decades because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The sporting event, which was scheduled to take place from June 29 to July 12, was last postponed during World War II in 1945. Wimbledon’s 2020 cancellation marks the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1877 that the event will not be played during peacetime.
“It is with great regret that the Main Board of the All England Club (AELTC) and the Committee of Management of The Championships have today decided that The Championships 2020 will be canceled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic,” Wimbledon said in a statement on its website.
The Association of Tennis Professionals and Women’s Tennis Association also jointly announced that events at every level of both professional tours have been canceled through July 13, covering the entire grass-court season.
The International Tennis Federation made the same decision.
Wimbledon was canceled from 1915 to 1918 during the First World War and again from 1940 to 1945 during World War II, according to ESPN. Next year’s event is scheduled for June 28 to July 11.
The National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college basketball, and nearly every other professional sporting league have suspended or canceled play as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 905,000 people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University.
