Indian Wells (The 'Fifth Tennis Major') Has Been Cancelled Because Of The Coronavirus
WOAH! The BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) has been flat out cancelled because of the Coronavirus outbreak. Indian Wells is one of the biggest non-grand slam tournaments of the entire season so this is a big deal. It's actually referred to as the 'fifth tennis major.' I had to put it in parenthesis in the blog title because I don't know if Indian Wells catches the eye of the average sports fan. The field for that tournament is usually massive and draws a lot of attention. It's the highest attended tennis tournament in the world outside of the four majors.
With Indian Wells out of the question you have to wonder if the Miami Open will still happen in a few weeks. Looking even further ahead, what about the French Open in May? I mean Europe is a complete shit show right now with this virus. I feel like it's more likely than not that we don't have a French Open this year which is pretty crazy to say. Who is that bad news for? Probably the guy who has won 12 of those titles and would enter this year as the clear favorite to win number13: the current world number 2 Rafa Nadal.
There's a scenario where there isn't a big tennis tournament played again until Wimbledon in July if this doesn't get better soon. Now let's put on our tin foil hats why don't we? Who is a guy who was going to miss these tournaments regardless of a virus outbreak? The guy who just underwent knee surgery that will cause him to miss months?
Did Roger Federer create a killer virus that he knew would eventually get cured and become under control just so he wouldn't lose any points in the upcoming tournaments? Rafa Nadal is right on his ass with 19 grand slam titles (1 shy). What better way to keep him there with another French Open coming up then just get the whole tournament cancelled?
Now I don't think anyone believes Federer has it in him to kill human beings and take lives, but what greater trick to do so when no one would ever suspect him? The virus will be dealt with by the summer I hope and Wimbledon could be the first tournament that resumes the season. How convenient that Fed would return with a brand new knee ready to vanquish all of is opponents. Okay realistically Federer didn't create a super virus that would be kill thousands of innocent souls just so he could keep his lead on Rafa. Maybe it was a super fan of Federers who just couldn't bare to see Rafa tie him in May? There's a lot of crazy people out there, let's go with that narrative.
In all seriousness, Indian Wells being cancelled is a big deal and this could set a precedent for other sporting events outside of tennis moving forward. This is a weird, scary time for everyone. Who the fuck knows what's going to happen over the next few months. The Masters. NBA and NHL Playoffs. MLB regular season games. We could be entering the weirdest time ever to be a sports fan.