Despite attempts to make the historic summer tennis tournament a go this year, the 2020 Citi Open has been canceled, according to a statement released Tuesday morning on Twitter.

“After months of tireless work by our team and close collaboration with our many stakeholders, we are heartbroken to announce that we must unfortunately postpone the 52nd Citi Open until the summer of 2021,” reads the statement from Chairman and CEO Mark Ein.

https://twitter.com/CitiOpen/status/1285575764222631941

It was only a month ago that organizers made it clear their intention to put on the decades-old tournament this year. The plan was for the Citi Open to take place Aug. 13-21 without fans in attendance.

However, circumstances have changed. This includes the immense challenge of international travel (the tournament’s roster usually includes players from around the world), coronavirus case spikes in many states, and even a troubling pattern of case peaks regionally.

“With only 23 days left until the start of the tournament, there are too many unresolved external issues, including various international travel restrictions as well as troubling health and safety trends, that have forced us to make this decision now in fairness to our players, suppliers and partners, so that they can have certainty around their planning,” continues the statement.

This would have been the 52nd straight year of the tournament.

Last spring, Mark Ein — who also owns the Washington City Paper, the esports team Washington Justice, and the Washington Kastles — acquired the local tennis tournament. “This tournament has been woven into the fabric of our community as a mainstay of life across generations. That’s why [it’s] a jewel,” he said at the time at a press conference where he was joined by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The Citi Open, which has gone by a number of names in the past, is one of the longest-running and most historic tennis tournaments in America. The tournament launched in 1969 in large part due to tennis legend Arthur Ashe, who reportedly told his teammate Donald Dell he’d play in it every year as long as it took place in an integrated neighborhood and “black faces come out and watch the tennis.” Ashe played in the tournament—which is still held at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center—11 times, winning in 1973.

The 2019 Citi Open attracted more than 78,000 fans to the nine-day tournament which set an all-time attendance record. 

The hope for 2021 is to, once again, have huge crowds of people watching tennis together in the sweltering D.C. August heat.

“We look forward to hosting another memorable Citi Open, an American Summer Tennis Tradition, in August 2021, in front of the enthusiastic, sold-out crowds that our incredible tennis community has generated for over 50 years,” wrote Ein.