ATP and WTA extend tour suspension through to August

andrewhendrie in News 17 May 2020
ATP WTA Suspension August
Tennis has been suspended until August (PA Images)


The ATP and WTA have announced a further suspension to their respective tours until at least the beginning of August.

All forms of tennis were previously suspended until July 13, but the ATP and WTA have now extended that date until August 1.

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“ATP events in Hamburg, Bastad, Newport, Los Cabos, Gstaad, Umag, Atlanta and Kitzbühel will not take place as scheduled,” the ATP said. “The extended suspension also applies to the ATP Challenger Tour and to men’s events on the ITF World Tennis Tour.”

The WTA announced a similar statement on their website.

“WTA events in Bastad, Lausanne, Bucharest, and Jurmala scheduled for July will not be held, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” they said.

On the ATP side, some tournaments – such as Hamburg – are still hoping to reschedule for a later date this season, but others like Newport have already announced they’ve postponed their event to 2021.

Currently, the joint ATP and WTA Citi Open in Washington D.C. and WTA Premier-5 event in San Jose are scheduled to be the next tournaments on tour from the start of August.

The Citi Open tournament director said last week that the tournament was hoping to go ahead as originally scheduled and was even aiming to attract a limited number of spectators into the grounds.

Realistically, it appears a long shot that tennis will be able to resume a normal calendar in 2020, with the biggest hurdle being international travel and flying players to tournaments across the world.

Countries are beginning to develop domestic competitions for their respective players, while exhibitions have taken place in Germany and the United States over the last month.

The Ultimate Tennis Showdown, established by coach Patrick Mouratoglou, is scheduled to begin next month, with the likes of Fabio Fognini and David Goffin confirmed for the tournament.

“Just like tennis fans, players and tournament hosts all over the world, we share in the disappointment the Tour continues to be affected in this way,” ATP chief Andrea Gaudenzi said in a statement.

“We continue to assess all of our options in an effort to resume the Tour as soon as it is safe to do so, including the feasibility of rescheduling events later in the season. As ever, the health and well-being of the tennis community and wider public remains our top priority in every decision we make.”