ATP cancels China tournaments including Shanghai Masters due to COVID-19 worries

Due to lingering concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour will cancel their upcoming four tournaments to be played in China.

The Chengdu Open, Zhuhai Championships, China Open and Shanghai Masters tournaments are all canceled this year due to “restrictions related to COVID-19.”

Although COVID-19 cases are relatively low in China, the country’s “zero-tolerance” policy towards the pandemic means visitors to China must quarantine upon arrival, and new measures can be implemented quickly and without warning.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said last month, “If the protocols are too strict it will be quite unlikely that we can have the players fly there.”

To replace the canceled tournaments, the ATP Tour has created six new events in San Diego, Seoul, Tel Aviv, Florence and Naples, Italy and Gijon, Spain.

This marks the third consecutive year the tournaments in China have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

“As a global sport we continue to manage the impacts of the pandemic. Event cancellations are an unfortunate reality and we wish our affected tournament members and fans well. At the same time, it’s incredibly encouraging to have many great cities step up to host ATP Tour tennis this season. This shows the strong international interest in our product and validates the agile approach we’ve taken,” said Gaudenzi.

Although they were able to host the Winter Olympics earlier this year in Beijing, China has been forced to cancel many sporting events due to the pandemic. These include the World Athletic Half Marathon Championships in Yangzhou, two Diamond League events in Shanghai and Shenzen, two golf tournaments in Shanghai and the Chengdu World University Games. They also gave up their right to host next year’s AFC Asian Cup.