The women’s Kunming Open tennis tournament scheduled to start in April in China’s Anning city has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, the WTA Tour informed on Tuesday.
The April 27-May 3 claycourt event, which features 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams, is the second 125K series tournament to be cancelled because of the virus after the Xi’an Open, which was also scheduled for April.
The flu-like coronavirus has killed over 3,000 people and infected more than 89,000 globally after it originated in China late last year.
The WTA has said it hopes to forge ahead with the remainder of the 2020 world tour despite widespread concerns over the coronavirus outbreak that has seen a host of sports events cancelled or postponed around the globe.
“This decision has been made in the best interest of our players, tournament and WTA staff and fans. We look forward to competing in Anning in 2021 along with the 2020 WTA events that are scheduled to take place this fall,” the WTA stated.
Zhengzhou, Jiangxi, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, Tianjin and Zhuhai are all set to host WTA events in September and October before the top eight women’s singles players compete in the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen from Nov. 1-8.
“We continue to communicate with medical experts as information evolves on this virus and we will continue to remain vigilant in managing this challenging situation,” the WTA added.
The COVID-19 cases are sky-rocketing in the continent of Asia, it eventually puts the Tokyo Olympics 2020 under a threat. And at present the Olympics host, Japan has 271 confirmed cases.
World Number two Rafael Nadal raised his worries regarding the dreadful situation which the entire world is going through. And he aspires that everything goes according to the plan at Tokyo Games 2020.
“I hope it is controlled, that a remedy is found and this uncertainty is stopped, this psychosis, this fear. It is the most important thing, not only for the Olympic Games but for humanity. The Olympic Games is one of the most special events in the world,” he said.
The Olympic Games will start on July 25, 2020, and organizers have stated they won’t cancel or postpone the quadrennial event amid coronavirus outbreak.
