U.S. Open officials plan to announce this week that they’ll stage the tournament as scheduled, beginning Aug. 31 in New York, pending sign-off by local health officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the deliberations.

After weeks of conference calls with the multiple governing bodies with a stake in professional tennis, including the men’s and women’s pro tours, organizers have devised a plan to hold the Grand Slam event at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, under unprecedented restrictions due to the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 117,000 Americans and 428,000 worldwide.

No spectators will be permitted, and players will be required to follow a series of rules and precautions that world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, a three-time U.S. Open champion, has called “extreme” and hinted is a possible dealbreaker for his participation.

The men’s and women’s pro tours have been shut down since early March because of the highly contagious virus.

USTA spokesperson Chris Widmaier said in a telephone interview: “At the end of the day, whatever plan we put forward will be guided by our first principles of health and safety for everyone involved.”

Under the revised calendar for resumption, Washington’s Citi Open will herald the return of the sport, with its start delayed two weeks to Aug. 16, as first reported by ESPN and confirmed by The Washington Post. Mark Ein, who took over management of Washington’s long-running late-summer tennis event in 2019, declined to comment when reached Monday morning.

Assuming the U.S. Open gets underway as scheduled, it would be the second major of the year and the first since February, when Djokovic and American Sofia Kenin won the titles at the Australian Open. Wimbledon canceled its 2020 edition because of the virus.

The French Open, which was scheduled to start in late May, announced it would postpone opening day until Sept. 20, just one week after the U.S. Open is scheduled to end.

It is far from clear how many top-ranked players will travel to New York to compete in the U.S. Open. Like Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, world No. 1 and No. 2 Ash Barty and Simona Halep are among those who have acknowledged concerns in recent weeks about the health risks of traveling to New York.

“Well, is not the ideal situation honestly. If you ask me today if I want to travel today to New York to play tennis tournament, I will say no, I will not,” Nadal told reporters during a June 4 conference call. “In a couple of months, I don’t know how the situation going to improve. Hopefully going to improve the right way. ”

Barty voiced concerns in an email to the Associated Press, writing: “I understand the tournaments are eager to run but keeping everyone safe has to be the priority.”

Djokovic told Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS that his season most likely would resume on clay, with an eye toward the French Open, in September.

Under the protocols discussed with representatives of the men’s and women’s tours – and are being tweaked daily, according to two people close to the process – players would be subjected to numerous restrictions to guard against contracting and spreading the highly contagious virus.

Among them: Players could be accompanied by only one person (whether coach, physical therapist or spouse); must stay en masse in a designated hotel near the site in Queens (rather than Manhattan, where players routinely spend the fortnight); show evidence that they do not have the virus; be tested frequently during the tournament and be ousted if they test positive at any point.

Djokovic called the restriction on traveling parties “really impossible,” saying, “You need your coach, then a fitness trainer, then a physiotherapist.”

Nonetheless, U.S. Open officials are pushing forward largely because of the revenue the tournament generates and the fact that the organization failed to secure insurance against cancellation, as Wimbledon officials did, which made the decision to cancel less financially impactful.

The fact that no spectators would be allowed at the 2020 U.S. Open would drastically curtail the U.S. Tennis Association’s annual revenue, depriving it of ticket receipts, concession and merchandise sales and on-site sponsorship deals over the two-week event, which holds separately ticketed day- and night-sessions that in 2019 brought nearly 800,000 fans to the grounds.

Nonetheless, there is financial incentive to hold even a radically retooled event to fulfill obligations to the sport’s broadcast partners, ESPN and Tennis Channel, and to showcase tennis as live sporting events gradually return to the global landscape.

“The U.S. Open is obviously a touchstone cultural moment for the world, as is each one of the majors,” Ken Solomon, the chief executive of the Tennis Channel, said in a telephone interview. “It’s important not only to the Tennis Channel but to New York and the country. If we can do it, and do it in a way that’s responsible, it will show the inventiveness, the ability and serve as a societal teaching moment to help people see that there are different ways to do what we do in our lives and still get it done.”

Assuming the U.S. Open proceeds, it will underscore the profound impact the virus has and will have on sports.

On a macro level, tennis going forward must confront the question of whether a virtually year-round, global calendar is practical in a post-pandemic world. And on an individual level, the havoc wreaked by the virus stands to alter the legacies of champions who are nearing the end of their careers.

With Roger Federer announcing earlier this month that he won’t compete again until 2021 after undergoing a second surgical procedure on his right knee., the Swiss master will hit pause on his record 20 majors, while his top challengers will have two opportunities, in theory, to close the gap (Djokovic has 17 majors) or equal or surpass him (Nadal has 19).

Serena Williams, who on Sept. 26 will join Federer in turning 39, is also racing against history.

Her place as the game’s greatest female player is assured, but there is one mark she hasn’t achieved: equaling and surpassing Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slam titles (most of them compiled before the Open Era, when the women’s game lacked the depth of the modern era.) Williams has 23 major singles titles.

For many players, the biggest barrier is the “getting there.”

To that end, U.S. Open officials have explored the possibility of providing charter flights to New York from a handful of locations around the world that would enable players and their traveling companion to stay in a tennis “bubble” en route. Still, players would have to find ways to reach the charters’ departure cities, requiring additional commercial flights by some.

But from the USTA’s perspective, the complex machinations are worth it because the U.S. Open accounts for the bulk of its annual revenue. The organization announced June 8 that it was eliminating 110 jobs (roughly 20% of its workforce) and reducing salaries as an upshot of a reexamination of its priorities that was already underway but sped up as a result of the virus.

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