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Wimbledon 2020 is canceled due to coronavirus pandemic

Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy on the balcony of Centre Court, for the crowd gathered below, after winning the men's singles final against Roger Federer at Wimbledon on July 12, 2015.
Novak Djokovic kisses the trophy on the balcony of Centre Court, for the crowd gathered below, after winning the men’s singles final against Roger Federer at Wimbledon on July 12, 2015.
(Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)
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Wimbledon was canceled on Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time since World War II that the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament won’t be played.

The All England Club announced after an emergency meeting that the event it refers to simply as the Championships is being scrapped for 2020.

Wimbledon was scheduled to be played on the club’s grass courts on the outskirts of London from June 29 to July 12.

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Instead, the next edition of the tournament will be June 28 to July 11, 2021.

The tournament was first held in 1877 and has been staged every year since, with the exception of two stretches: from 1915-18 because of World War I, and from 1940-45 because of World War II.

It now joins the growing list of sports events canceled or postponed in 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

A look at how sports leagues, including the NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA and NHL, are responding to the coronavirus outbreak.

That includes the Tokyo Olympics, which have been pushed back 12 months, and the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, which were canceled last month.

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Wimbledon is the first major tennis championship completely wiped out this year because of the coronavirus. The start of the French Open was postponed from late May to late September.

As of now, the U.S. Open is still scheduled to be played in New York from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13.

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