INDIAN WELLS OFFICIALS HAVE MADE A MAMMOTH UNFORCED ERROR

After the shock decision to cancel/postpone the 2020 BNP Paribas Open due to Coronavirus, one cannot help think that tournament officials have made an abundance of mistakes in making the call.

It is the first cancellation of a major tour level event since the Australian Open date change in 1986, but before that World War II. It has left the tennis world bemused and unsure of where to move from this point onwards.

The decision to cancel the tournament came extremely late, with officials releasing a statement explaining that a case of the illness has affected someone in the Coachella Valley, eleven minutes from Indian Wells.

“The Riverside County Public Health Department has declared a public health emergency for the Coachella Valley after a confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19) locally,

“As a result, the 2020 BNP Paribas Open will not take place at this time due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and the safety of the participants and attendees at the event. This is following the guidance of medical professionals, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and State of California.”

Players, officials and media had already converged on the precinct that holds what is commonly known as the fifth major in the picturesque Californian Desert, while some were in transit to Los Angeles when the announcement was made.

The question must be raised, with players, officials, media and fans already spending money to get to the destination, should the tournament have been played in front of eery empty stadiums and tickets refunded?

From this point of view, yes, it should have. Tickets have already been refunded or used as credit for the 2021 event, so that's a start.

Even with the risk the odds of contracting Coronavirus are not that high and players had already participated in an ATP Challenger Tour event and WTA 125k series event the previous week.

It has been handled with the utmost of knee jerk reactions, with one of the major arguments being players ranked outside the top 150 and 200 spending copious amounts of dollars on getting to LA before a one hour 52 minute drive to the tennis precinct, only to be told they aren’t playing.

The event must understand that they are toying with people’s livelihoods. Last year if a player was to lose in the opening round of qualifying they would earn $3,395USD. If they happened to be Australian with a one way ticket, Australian airfare site Flight Centre has economy class flights on 11th of March 2020 ranging from $389USD-$681USD.

This is a fair chunk of that pay packet, not to mention the fact that they will most likely have a coach with them who takes a percentage, managers, accomodation, physiotherapists, necessities and taxes. It doesn’t leave them with much to play with.

Obviously players like Djokovic, Barty, Nadal and Halep would not be affected in such a way, but players like Alex Bolt, Astra Sharma and Max Purcell could be heavily burdened by tournament cancellations when they have already arrived.

Not to mention the media that have already flown over and have been denied access to the grounds at this time. The least the Indian Wells media team could have arranged would be for journalists and broadcasters to enter the site and interview officials and gain some content as they have travelled far and wide, an abhorrent decision.

People and organisations who shine under pressure and adversity are always remembered in high regard, but the BNP Paribas Open has been far from that.

To shut the media out and deny players the ability to practice on Centre Court or any main court because they aren’t a former champion? It is disgraceful.

Australian star John Millman took to Twitter to voice his displeasure and label the bias despite the competition being cancelled.

“Meant to hit with a high seed tmrw. That person cancelled today obviously due to there being no tournament on anymore. Informed practice I’d still use time and court as I’m still here. Practice desk said no I don’t get that time or court because I’m not a top player or past champ,” he Tweeted.

“Even when there’s no more tournament the bias is strong... classy,

“You can still practice. But apparently certain courts are off limits if you aren’t a ‘top seed’ or ‘past champion’.”

It is understandable that this is an extremely unique and unforeseen situation, but officials are seemingly unorganised and unwilling to roll with the punches. If a player wants to practice on a main court, let them! Where is the harm in that? They are being unused.

Finally, Tournament Director and former ATP World No.2 Tommy Haas has said that officials will explore all options to re-locate the event on the calendar.

“We are very disappointed that the tournament will not take place, but the health and safety of the local community, fans, players, volunteers, sponsors, employees, vendors, and everyone involved with the event is of paramount importance,” he said.

“We are prepared to hold the tournament on another date and will explore options.”

Problem is, when will space be found? Almost every week is booked with tournaments, even the Olympics doesn’t disrupt the ATP Tour, with Atlanta and Kitzbuhel taking place simultaneously.

Tournaments cannot simply be cancelled, while this event should not be moved into the off season in December.

Haas and his team must simply accept the fact that the event will not go ahead this year, and end the speculation sooner rather than later.

Looking forward in 2020, all ATP, WTA and ITF tournaments must now be transparent with players, fans and media as to whether there is a risk of cancellation or playing with no crowds.

Even though this situation is rare, BNP Paribas Open officials could have been smarter in the way this has been dealt with, despite the risks. Cancelling the event instead of having no crowd, shutting out media and not allowing any players to practice on unused main courts just don’t seem like logical solutions.

Miami Open, over to you.