Mardy Fish has joked Roger Federer is ‘Fedoracle’ in reaction to the news that the BNP Paribas Open would be postponed. Federer is currently on sidelines after undergoing knee surgery in February.
The Swiss star is targeting a return to action in June, in time for the grass-court season.
But the 38-year-old could be coming back to a sport badly hit by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
And Sunday it was announced the tournament, billed as the unofficial fifth Grand Slam’ would not take place after positive cases of the virus where found in the area.
Doctor David Agus, a professor at the University of Southern California said: “There is too great a risk, at this time, to the public health of the Riverside County area in holding a large gathering of this size.
“It is not in the public interest of fans, players and neighbouring areas for this tournament to proceed.
“We all have to join together to protect the community from the coronavirus outbreak.”
It means on an individual level, Federer’s recovery couldn’t have come at a better time.
And Fish, who retired from the tour in 2015, tweeted: “Roger even gets his surgery schedule correct. #Fedoracle.”
From Indian Wells to the French Open, Federer has 2,680 points to defend in the ATP rankings.
But should further tournaments get postponed, it could allow him to stay high in the rankings.
Last week, Dominic Thiem moved above Federer and into third in the rankings for the first time in his career.
The next scheduled event is the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium later this month.
However, the tournament is in doubt after the Florida Department of Health advised individuals who have travelled internationally to self-isolate for 14 days following their date of return to the United States.
A new positive case of COVID-19 was announced, the third in Broward County, which is where the tournament takes place.
That brings the number of positive cases of coronavirus in Florida to 19 while around 300 people are currently being monitored for the virus.
Tennis Today: ‘Fedoracle’ Roger Federer times his layoff to perfection, John Millman fumes over ‘strong bias’
In Tennis Today, Roger Federer seemed to have timed his knee surgery to perfection while John Millman is unhappy over the treatment he received at Indian Wells.
What’s on the site
It’s still a bit crazy in the world of tennis as the discussions continue with regards to what’s happening and what’s not happening due to the coronavirus outbreak.
For now ONLY the Indian Wells Masters has been cancelled and players, pundits and fans shared their thoughts about the decision and the implications.
After speculation that the Miami Open could follow suit, organisers quickly put out the flames by announcing that the tournaments is STILL ON at this stage.
What about Wimbledon, we hear you ask?
Well after the UK government announced “there is no rationale to close or cancel sporting events as things stand”, Wimbledon is also STILL VERY MUCH ON.
Away from the coronavirus and Andy Murray wrote an op-ed letter for the IOC calling for more women to be given coaching roles.
With no ATP and WTA events this week, our guru Derek Bilton decided to turn his attention to the tennis betting for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
What’s in the news
French Fed Cup captain Julien Benneteau has raised doubts about whether the inaugural Fed Cup Finals, which is due to take place from April 14-19 in Budapest, Hungary, can go ahead as planned due to the coronavirus.
“Tennis will be impacted, that’s for sure,” he told French publication L’Equipe. “I do not see how, for example, the Fed Cup Finals in Budapest can go ahead as scheduled.”
It’s not just the tennis community that will be hit hard by the decision to cancel the Indian Wells Masters as the Palm Springs Desert Sun reports that the “BNP Paribas Open cancellation puts $400 million in tourism business on the line”.
What’s on social media
Roger Federer appeared to have timed his injury-enforced layoff to perfection.
The Barcelona Open still going ahead at this stage and they are due to announce their field today (Tuesday). Do you recognise any of the players?
Serena Williams shares her new beauty routine while daughter Olympia shares her own routine.
We can’t get enough of this one-handed backhand.
