All international tennis tournaments in China this year, including the Shanghai Masters and WTA Finals, were canceled yesterday because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ATP and WTA said.
The major blow to attempts to restart tennis came after China said that it would not stage most international sports events for the rest of this year to keep the pandemic in check.
“We are extremely disappointed that our world-class events in China will not take place this year,” WTA chief executive Steve Simon said in a statement. “We do however respect the decision that has been made [by Chinese authorities] and are eager to return to China as soon as possible next season.”
Among the seven WTA events canceled is the Wuhan Open in October, which promised to be hugely symbolic as the city was at the center of the pandemic when it emerged late last year.
The ATP said it was also canceling its tournaments in China for the rest of the year, including the prestigious Shanghai Masters and China Open — a joint ATP-WTA event — in Beijing.
“Our approach throughout this pandemic has been to always follow local guidance when staging events. We respect the Chinese government’s decision to do what’s best for the country in response to the unprecedented global situation,” ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said. “It’s with a heavy heart that we announce ATP tournaments will not be played in China this year.”
The tennis season has been at a standstill since March due to the pandemic and is struggling to restart.
The ATP earlier this week said that a tournament in Washington that was to mark the restart of men’s tennis next month had been canceled.
US Open organizers said that would “in no way impact” the behind-closed-doors Grand Slam scheduled for the end of next month.
The Cincinnati Open and US Open are still scheduled to take place back-to-back in New York from Aug. 20, despite several leading players casting doubt over their participation.
The WTA Tour is scheduled to restart on Aug. 3 in Palermo, Italy.
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