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Enough is Enough – Here’s how to fix the packed 2020 tennis schedule

By Brandon Daniels

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: A general view of Arthur Ashe Stadium as Matteo Berrettini of Italy serves during his Men's Singles semi-final match against Rafael Nadal of Spain on day twelve of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 06, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: A general view of Arthur Ashe Stadium as Matteo Berrettini of Italy serves during his Men's Singles semi-final match against Rafael Nadal of Spain on day twelve of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 06, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 07: General view of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is seen closed on April 7, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City. A temporary hospital is erected to help hard-hit nearby Elmhurst Hospital which is at capacity given the large COVID-19 outbreak in the area.(Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 07: General view of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is seen closed on April 7, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City. A temporary hospital is erected to help hard-hit nearby Elmhurst Hospital which is at capacity given the large COVID-19 outbreak in the area.(Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images) /

Official Lob and Smash 2020 tennis schedule (done the right way)

Now, how can we solve all of the players’ concerns and still fit in every tournament on the ATP/WTA’s schedule? Two major things need to be taken into account: the European Union’s mandatory 14-day quarantine and adequate preparation time in between events for players.

The current ATP schedule is as follows:

"August 20th-27th: Western & Southen Open (New York) August 31st-September 13th: US Open (New York) September 8th-13th: ATP 250 Generali Open (Kitzbuhel) September 20th-27th: ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Rome) September 27th-October 11th: Roland Garros (Paris)"

Factoring in the 14-day quarantine, the game’s top players wouldn’t be able to play in Rome due to scheduling and wouldn’t have any competition on clay until the beginning of Roland Garros. Never fear, the fix is here!

Option #1: Move the Western & Southern Open, US Open forward a week

The first option is a simple one, however unlikely it may be at this point in time. Moving both hard-court tournament up a week would allow for players to have at least the Rome tournament to prepare for Roland Garros. Based on the 14-day quarantine, the new schedule would now look like this:

"August 10th-17th: Western & Southen Open (New York) August 21st-September 2nd: US Open (New York) September 3rd/4th: *14-day quarantine begins for finalists upon Europe arrival* September 8th-13th: ATP 250 Generali Open (Kitzbuhel) September 17th/18th: *14-day quarantine end for finalists* September 20th-27th: ATP Masters 1000 Rome (Rome) September 27th-October 11th: Roland Garros (Paris)"

What stands out in this scenario is the ability to keep Roland Garros in its original spot and the few days that players will have to prepare for Roland Garros at the Masters 1000 Rome event. In addition, the few days between the players Europe arrival and the beginning of Rome gives them some time to fight off jet lag and re-adjust back to European time.

The hard-court swing should be moved if the ATP were decided to lengthen the schedule. Due to the timeless “dibs” rule, Roland Garros did move their tournament to cope with the shutdown before the ATP went into action to reschedule the season.

This first option also makes sense due to what the original restart schedule was when it first came out. The Citi Open was scheduled to be held from August 13th-20th. It’d be a relatively simple fix for them to have all competing players enter the US Open bubble a few days early and stay for the month.

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