WASHINGTON, March 16, 2020 (by Michael Dickens)
There will be no WTA Tour events through May 2. On Monday, the governing body of women’s professional tennis announced that tournaments in Stuttgart, Germany (April 20-26), Istanbul, Turkey (April 20-26) and Prague, Czech Republic (April 27-May 2) will not be held as scheduled.
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Stuttgart is an indoor WTA Premier red clay event while the Istanbul and Prague events are outdoor WTA International red clay tournaments.
On the WTA website, a WTA spokesperson said: “Due to the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak, the WTA tournaments in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague will not be held as scheduled. We regret this is the case for all of our loyal fans, players, sponsors and all those who support women’s professional tennis.
“At this point in time, the WTA Tour is now suspended until May 2. We will make a decision in the week ahead regarding the remaining WTA European clay court events and will continue to monitor this situation closely and its impact on the 2020 WTA Tour season.”
WTA Statement on upcoming clay court swing:
Due to the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak, the WTA tournaments in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague will not be held as scheduled.
At this point in time, the WTA Tour is now suspended until May 2 —> https://t.co/MWcRZERqIq pic.twitter.com/bgxXXXniIH
— WTA (@WTA) March 16, 2020
Last week, the ATP Tour announced it had suspended ATP Tour-level and ATP Challenger Tour play for six weeks through April 27, and the ITF suspended the Fed Cup Finals in Budapest and Fed Cup Playoffs at various sites, which were scheduled for mid-April.
