WTA cancels Xi'an Open due to coronavirus outbreak

[February 21, 2020]    (Reuters) - The women's Xi'an Open tennis tournament scheduled for next month in China has been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, the WTA Tour said in a statement.

The 125K series hardcourt event was to be played from April 13-19, with 32 singles players and 16 doubles teams.

The virus outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 75,000 in China after emerging late last year in Wuhan, Hubei province.

The WTA said it was monitoring the situation ahead of the tournaments scheduled to take place in China during the second half of the season.

Zhengzhou, Jiangxi, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Beijing, Tianjin and Zhuhai are all set to host WTA events in September and October before the top eight women's singles players compete in the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen from Nov. 1-8.

"We continue to communicate with medical experts as information evolves on this virus, and we will work closely with them to monitor the situation," a WTA spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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