Four ATP Challenger Tour events cancelled due to coronavirus

• Tennis News
• ATP Tennis

The ATP has recently announced, that four ATP Challenger Tour events that were supposed to be held in China during the month of March, have been cancelled due to the growing concerns of the recent coronavirus outbreak. The Challengers of Qujing CH 50 (Week of 2 March 2020), Zhuhai CH 80 (Week of 9 March 2020), Shenzhen CH 90 (Week of 16 March 2020), and Zhangjiagang CH 80 (Week of 23 March 2020) will therefore not be disputed in the month of March.

The ATP communicated that they “will continue to monitor the ongoing situation in China,” and will evaluate “the possibility of rescheduling these events later in the year”. As for now, the Taipei CH 125 (Week of 30 March 2020), Nanchang CH 80 (Week of 6 April 2020), Changsha CH 80 (Week of 13 April 2020), and Anning CH 125 (Week of 20 April 2020) remain on the calendar, but there are high risks that those tournaments will also have to be cancelled.

The coronavirus is a respiratory illness which can spread from person to person. It was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has reportedly killed more than 1,000 people. The number of people infected recently surpassed 45,000, according to the Chinese authorities.

It was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO). Even if the virus affects principally China, additional cases have been identified in at least 27 other countries including the United States, Japan, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, and South Korea.