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After discussions with the USTA Medical Advisory Committee, the 2020 National Clay Court Championships has been canceled due to continuing fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The USTA made the announcement on Friday afternoon. The National Clay Court Championships were scheduled for July 12-19. The event includes boys and girls tournaments at the 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-and-under levels, and was set to be played in seven different cities across three states.

A decision regarding the National Championships will be made by June 8th.

The USTA said it will continue to monitor and assess conditions to make future determinations about upcoming events in accordance with directives from local government agencies and the CDC.

Other USTA events canceled for 2020 include:

• USTA League National Championships

• USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships

• USTA Junior Intersectional Team Championships

• USTA Zone Team Championships

• USTA National Team Championships

Also on Friday, the ATP Tour, WTA and International Tennis Federation extended the suspension of all ITF tournaments through at least July 31.

In other news this week:

• The NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee extended its recruiting dead period through June 30. The committee said it will review the dates again on May 27 and could further extend the dead period at that time. During a dead period, a college coach may not have in-person contact with recruits, host recruits for on-campus visits or watch recruits play in person.
• The NCAA Division II Administrative Committee voted to move into a quiet recruiting period from June 1-30. During the quiet period, “it will be permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts with recruits only on the member institution’s campus, subject to applicable public health guidelines.” There is no off-campus in-person contact or evaluations allowed. Division II is currently in a recruiting dead period through May 31.
• Citing budget constraints from the Covid-19 pandemic, Akron University cut three sports, including women’s tennis. The move is projected to save $4.4 million. In a rare decision, Akron will not be honoring the current student-athlete’s scholarships if they decide to remain at the school without competing on the team. However, the university is required to provide the agreed upon scholarship to the incoming student-athletes that had previously signed an offer for the upcoming school year should they decide to enroll at Akron.
• The Mid-American Conference and Southern Conference have announced changes to their postseason tournaments to help reduce cost and travel. The MAC will no longer hold a men’s and women’s tennis postseason tournament. The Southern Conference will reduce postseason tournament qualifying to four teams each in men’s and women’s tennis.

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].