Toronto loses Rogers Cup men’s event for 2020

TORONTO — The Rogers Cup men’s tennis tournament will not be played in 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Tennis Canada said in a release issued Wednesday the event’s start date will be pushed back until Aug. 7, 2021.

The annual ATP Tour event, which rotates between Toronto and Montreal, was scheduled to be played Aug. 8-16 at the Aviva Centre at York University. With the Rogers Cup 2020 women’s tournament in Montreal shelved earlier this month and rescheduled for next year in the same city, the men’s event also will remain in Toronto in 2021.

Tennis Canada said it considered holding the event without fans, but decided against the idea due to travel restrictions and potential strains on public health.

“Organizing a closed-door event is complex and requires certain important health and operational protocols to be put in place,” Gavin Ziv, managing director of the Rogers Cup in Toronto, said in the release. “We estimated that to organize and broadcast such a tournament, we would require having up to 450 people on-site.”

According to Tennis Canada president and chief executive Michael Downey, the organization has absorbed a loss of $17 million this year.

“Tennis Canada cannot afford to increase this deficit,” Downey said. “As of today, there is no guarantee that a closed-door tournament would significantly mitigate those losses.”

Tennis Canada said tickets purchased for the 2020 Rogers Cup will be valid next year.