The Laver Cup will not go ahead in September due to the clash of dates with the French Open and will return next year.
The French Tennis Federation, in a surprise move, moved the claycourt major to a 20 September start date due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The new Roland Garros dates clashed with the 25-27 September Laver Cup, which is a team event co-created by Roger Federer and featuring the best of Europe against a World team.
Boston's TD Garden will remain host for the fourth edition of the event, which will now be held from 24-26 September in 2021.
"It's unfortunate that the Laver Cup has to be pushed back a year, but at this stage it's the right thing to do for everyone concerned," Federer said in a statement from the organisers.
"Although disappointing, the good news is that TD Garden will still be able to host the event next year and I really look forward to finally playing in Boston for the first time at Laver Cup 2021."
Organisers said the tickets purchased for the 2020 Laver Cup will be valid next year or fans can receive a full refund.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the US Open will decide in June if the major can go ahead, adding that the prospect of playing the tournament without fans is on the table but highly unlikely.
Scheduled to run from 31 August to 13 September, the Flushing Meadows feature is both the largest and loudest of the four Grand Slam events on the calendar and United States Tennis Association chief executive Mike Dowse does not anticipate that changing.
"Playing without spectators, we’re not taking anything off the table right now, but to be honest and open, I think that’s highly unlikely," Dowse said on a conference call.
"That’s not really in the spirit of the celebration of tennis. It also goes back to the health and wellbeing of not just the spectators, but of our players and support staff that help run the tournament."
The US Open is held annually in New York, which is the hardest hit US city in the coronavirus pandemic and this week revised its official Covid-19 death toll sharply higher to more than 10,000.
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which is the home of the event, has even been turned into a temporary hospital to help in the battle against the coronavirus.
Last year’s US Open drew an all-time attendance record of nearly 740,000 fans and the event is the engine that drives the USTA.
"Time is on our side at this point," said Dowse. "Obviously our ambition is to run the tournament."
Dowse said the USTA will make a decision on whether it is safe to stage the US Open after consulting doctors.
"Things are fluid. If the medical experts come back and say here is a foolproof way of running a very safe tournament, unfortunately it has to be without fans, we may reconsider and look at it at this point," said Dowse.
"Today it’s just too early to kind of speculate on what the exact specifics will be at that time."
The 2020 Laver Cup will not go ahead in September as planned and will return next year due to the clash of dates with the French Open, the organisers of the exhibition event said on Friday.
The French Tennis Federation, in a surprise move, switched the claycourt Grand Slam tournament to Sept. 20-Oct. 4 from its May start due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The new Roland Garros dates clashed with the Sept. 25-27 Laver Cup, which is a team event co-created by Roger Federer and featuring the best of Europe against a World team.
Boston's TD Garden will remain host for the fourth edition of the event, which will now be held from Sept. 24-26 in 2021.
"It's unfortunate that the Laver Cup has to be pushed back a year, but at this stage it's the right thing to do for everyone concerned," Federer said in a statement from the organisers.
"Although disappointing, the good news is that TD Garden will still be able to host the event next year and I really look forward to finally playing in Boston for the first time at Laver Cup 2021."
The men's ATP Tour and the WTA, which runs the women's circuit, suspended all tournaments until mid-July after countries started locking down borders to contain the spread of the flu-like virus which has infected over two million people.
The grasscourt Grand Slam at Wimbledon has been cancelled while the French Open's new slot means the tournament will start a week after the U.S. Open takes place on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows in New York.
In recent weeks tennis governing bodies have discussed the scheduling logjam with little clarity on when the sport can restart.
Tennis Australia, who run the opening Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park, and U.S. Open organisers, the United States Tennis Association, are stakeholders in the Laver Cup, which was part of the 2020 ATP Tour calendar.
Organisers said the tickets purchased for the 2020 Laver Cup will be valid next year or fans can receive a full refund.
"We needed to make a decision now on our event," said Laver Cup Chairman Tony Godsick, who is also Federer's agent.
"We know our passionate fans will be disappointed that they have to wait an extra year for the Laver Cup in Boston, but this is the responsible course of action, necessitated by the emerging calendar conflicts." (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Ken Ferris)
