US Open will go ahead behind closed doors, says New York Governor

Washington: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the US Open will be played from August 31 to September 13 behind closed doors.

In a tweet, Cuomo on Tuesday also said that the United States Tennis Association will take precautions to protect players.

"The US Open will be held in Queens, NY, without fans from August 31 to September 13. The USTA will take extraordinary precautions to protect players and staff, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space, and dedicated housing and transportation," Cuomo said in a tweet.

However, the official announcement is expected to be made by the USTA on Wednesday.

"We are incredibly excited that Governor Cuomo and New York State have today approved our plan to host the 2020 US Open and 2020 Western & Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center," Mike Dowse, USTA Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, said in a statement.

"We recognise the tremendous responsibility of hosting one of the first global sporting events in these challenging times, and we will do so in the safest manner possible, mitigating all potential risks," he added.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have both expressed their concerns about playing the Grand Slam. While Djokovic said that the rules to follow for participating are very restrictive, Nadal said that he won't consider it safe to play again until a vaccine is found for COVID-19.

World No 40, Nick Kyrgios, earlier last week had described the move to hold the US Open this year as "selfish". "The ATP is trying to make the US Open go ahead. Selfish with everything going on at the moment. Obviously Covid, but also with the riots, together we need to overcome these challenges before tennis returns in my opinion," he had tweeted.