The BNP Paribas Open is one of the biggest events in Tennis. Aside from the Grand Slam tournaments, many consider it to be the biggest tennis tournament in the world. But as indicated by MSN, the tournament takes place in southern California. It has been thus for almost half a century.
Southern California has become a focal point of concern regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus. And there has recently been a confirmed coronavirus case in Riverside County. The BNP Paribas Open has been held for several years now in Indian Wells in central Riverside County.
Event officials have now opted to take major action.
The tournament is not being held as scheduled
The 2020 BNP Paribas Open is not going ahead as planned. Dr. David Angus of the University of Southern California said holding the tournament would be "too great a risk." He also indicated it would not be "in the public interest" to hold the tournament at the current time.
The tournament can draw hundreds of thousands of spectators. Not to mention the athletes, staff, and others involved in making it work. As such, a case of the coronavirus at the event be disastrous.
But the news still probably comes as a disappointment for many tennis fans. Including those who were planning on seeing matches live and in person.
According to Yahoo, people who bought tickets from the tournament can receive a refund or a credit. The latter of which would be for the 2021 edition of the tournament.
Plans were already being made to try to protect people at the tournament. Ball kids were supposed to wear protective gear. They were also supposed to avoid touching towels the players had been using.
Organized interactions between the players and fans were also going to be more limited than usual.
The tournament might yet still go forward in 2020. Officials are reportedly looking into holding it later on in the year. Apparently they are hoping that problems with the novel coronavirus will have passed by then.
The LPGA could be facing a similar decision
The LPGA has been preparing to hold its first major tournament in 2020, the ANA Inspiration. But it's held in Rancho Mirage, which is also in Riverside County. In fact, it's a former host city of what is now the BNP Paribas Open.
It will be just one of many events, sporting and otherwise, to be canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus. And many fans anxiously await a final decision on the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Other events have also gone forward as they had been scheduled. But without a crowd in attendance, it's a move that has been controversial. Agreement about taking precautions is near-universal. But some would apparently rather events be postponed or outright canceled rather than banning audiences.
