WASHINGTON, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The ATP has announced a six-week suspension of the men's professional tennis tour due to escalating health and safety issues arising from the global outbreak of COVID-19.
All ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events scheduled up to and inclusive of the week of April 20 will not take place.
Following the recent cancellation of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the affected ATP Tour events are the Miami Open, the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, and the Hungarian Open in Budapest.
This week's ATP Challenger tournaments in Kazakhstan and South Africa were not able to be completed.
The suspension came in the wake of the World Health Organization's declaration on Wednesday that COVID-19 constituted a global pandemic and the 30-day travel restriction announced by the United States for foreign nationals from 26 European countries.
The suspension also followed numerous local government orders on restrictions, bans or cancellations of public gatherings or events.
The ATP will continue to review the feasibility of subsequent events in the calendar as well as the impact of the situation related to FedEx ATP Rankings points, which will not be available at any ITF World Tennis Tour events during the suspension period.
