All men’s and women’s tennis tournaments to be held in China this year have been cancelled. This follows the news that sports tournaments in China have been banned because of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to reports, only the trial competitions related to 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be held this year.
A total of 11 tennis tournaments have been affected by this decision including seven WTA and four ATP competitions.
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Some of the biggest tournaments on both the circuits are played in China including the Shanghai Masters and China Open on the men’s tour and the WTA Finals, which is the women’s season-ending competition.
In a media release, the WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon said:
“We are extremely disappointed that our world-class events in China will not take place this year.”
The ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi also confirmed the development by saying:
“It’s with a heavy heart that we announce ATP tournaments will not be played in China this year. We respect the Chinese government’s decision to do what’s best for the country in response to the unprecedented global situation.”
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As a result, both ATP and WTA will now need to make major changes to their tennis calendar. For now, the tennis season is expected to resume in Palermo in the first week of August, before moving to Kentucky for the first-ever edition of the Lexington Open as a WTA International event.
That will be followed by the Western & Southern Open and the US Open, both of which will be played in a specially-created New York-based bubble.
Following the US Open, clay court tournaments like the Madrid Open and Rome Masters will precede the year’s final Grand Slam, the French Open.
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