The Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) have further extended the suspension of all the professional tennis events until the end of July in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has brought the entire world at standstill.

As a result of suspension, the list of cancelled tournaments across WTA and ATP have now crossed 40.

The ATP said that the decision has been made in close collaboration with Tour members. As a result, the tennis events in Hamburg, Bastad, Newport, Los Cabos, Gstaad, Umag, Atlanta and Kitzbühel will not take place as per schedule. The development will also impact the ATP Challenger Tour and men’s events on the ITF World Tennis Tour.

Reflecting on the same, ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi expressed disappointment to further extend the Tour due to continued uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“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. 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,” the ATP official website quoted Gaudenzi as saying.

A WTA spokesperson, on the other hand, also confirmed that the women’s events in Bastad, Lausanne, Bucharest, and Jurmala scheduled for July will not go ahead as per plan due to current crises.

“We regret this is the case but will continue to be guided by medical experts for when it is safe and possible to return to WTA competition. We continue to monitor the situation closely and are hopeful to be back on the court as soon as possible.A decision regarding the dates in which Karlsruhe and Palermo may be played along with further updates to the WTA calendar will be made in June,” the WTA official website quoted the spokesperson as saying.

The ATP further confirmed that the tournaments scheduled to be held from August 1, 2020 onwards are still planning to proceed as planned.

On April 2, the ATP and WTA announced the suspension of all the professional tennis events until at least July 13. They had initially decided to suspend the game till June 7 in the wake of deadly coronavirus that was termed ‘pandemic’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO).