WTA Faces Another Major Setback Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Recently, the WTA came up with a revised calendar for the rest of 2020. Fans were no doubt thrilled by this, given that tennis tournaments had been on hold for a while due to the pandemic.  Unfortunately, things are clearly still quite dicey since another event has now been canceled – the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

WTA Premier Event Canceled

The Toray Pan Pacific Open was scheduled to be played right after the French Open. Since the coronavirus situation is a little better in Japan, many might find the cancellation surprising. In a recent statement, the organizers said,

“The Executive Committee looked at every possible way to make this tournament happen, including the idea of holding matches without audiences or restricting admissions in order to prioritize the health and safety of everyone involved. However, after a series of deliberations, the Executive Committee made a heartrending decision to rule out the postponement. And concluded that the cancellation of the tournament was the best decision in the interest of public health especially in light of the concern about the second wave of infection spreading in Japan.”

This is the first time the event has been canceled since 1984. The organizers have said that they understand that many will be upset about the news. They plan on doing their best to hold the event successfully in 2021!

The cancelation of the Toray Pan-Pacific Open means that there will be no tennis event in Japan this year. This is because the Hana-Cupid Japan Women’s Open and the Rakuten Japan Open of the men’s ATP Tour were also canceled. This is a sign of worry for the rest of the tennis season.

Events like the Citi Open have also been canceled due to the rising number of cases. Even though the US Open said that this will not affect their decision, others have refrained from saying much. Hopefully, they will continue with their events and make the 2020 tennis season a grand success despite the pandemic.

Source: Japan Times