COVID-19 forces cancellation of 2020 Rogers Cup event in Toronto

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

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.

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

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.

Founded in 1881 as the Canadian championships, the men’s tournament has been held every year except for 1905, 1915 to 1918 (First World War) and 1941 to 1945 (Second World War).

It is the latest major annual Canadian sporting event to announce it will not go off on schedule because of COVID-19. The Queen’s Plate horse race, RBC Canadian Open golf tournament and the Honda Indy auto race in Toronto, the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race and Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament in Montreal, the Vanier Cup and the Calgary Stampede rodeo also won’t run on their expected dates.

All ATP Tour events through June have been cancelled or suspended.

The men’s tennis tournament has had several different names – the Canadian Open, the du Maurier Open, the Player’s International, the Canada Masters and the Rogers Cup (since 2005).

Spain’s Rafael Nadal has won the past two Rogers Cup men’s singles competitions.