After so much talk, it became official: the Miami Open is canceled! The decision came straight from the County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez that released the following statement:
“Miami-Dade County is under a state of emergency, as we deal with the public health threat of COVID-19.
Although we do not have community spread at this time, we want to take the preemptive steps to keep it that way. Therefore, I have decided to suspend the operation of the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair, the Miami Open tennis tournament, the MIA 5K run, and all major events at the American Airlines Arena. As we move forward together during this time, we will continue to monitor what the World Health Organization has determined is a global pandemic. We will constantly evaluate planned mass gatherings as the situation evolves.
I will be making future policy decisions regarding indoor events planned for more than 250 people based on federal and state health officials’ guidance.
In addition, I am recommending that smaller gatherings, if they’re not essential, also be reconsidered.”
The decision was already anticipated by the fact that most of the top players caught one of the last flights from the US to Europe to be reunited with their family.
According to many reports, tennis will be shut down for 6 weeks. However, this still needs to be confirmed. many criticized the Miami Open for saying that Stadium was “looking good” a few hours before the obvious cancellation.
Lookin good, @HardRockStadium 🎾 pic.twitter.com/vnRSZQ0hOD
— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 11, 2020
