WIMBLEDON – When the clock struck 11 a.m. at the All England Club, there was silence.Not because a player dressed all in white was about to whack a serve on one of Wimbledon's many perfectly kept grass courts, but because there is no tennis this year at the oldest Grand Slam event in the world.Monday should have been the the first day of the two-week Wimbledon tournament, and matches usually start just before noon on the outside courts.
But because of the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament was canceled for the first time since World War II.“Sad,” said Mary Robbins, a local resident who grew up in Wimbledon and relishes getting a glimpse of Roger Federer or Serena Williams walking through the neighborhood. “It's been part of our lives.