The COVID-19 pandemic is still not over, and it's still impacting tennis as the ATP was forced to cancel its event in China this year.
The coronavirus pandemic might have seen its peak come and go; however, the restrictions in place in China mostly remain, which made it impossible for the country to host tennis events, so they were canceled.
For the past few years, the world has battled the infamous coronavirus pandemic. It started in Wuhan, which is famously known in the tennis world as the site of a tennis event where some of the best WTA players compete for the trophy.
It’s not the only event in the country, though, as there are multiple others, including very notably the Shanghai Masters, which hosts some of the best players in the world from the ATP Tour. None of these events have taken place in recent years.
The last time there were tennis events held in China was in 2019, just a few months before the virus spread around the world, causing a global pandemic. The subsequent 2020 and 2021 editions were both canceled, and the 2022 editions have now officially been canceled as well.
It’s not so much because the virus itself is causing too many problems these days, even though it’s still there and causing infections. It’s mostly due to the rigorous rules in place in the country to prevent any kind of significant emergence of the virus again.
Those restrictions would have made it quite impossible for tennis events to be held, so the decision came to cancel all the ATP events in the country. The WTA canceled all the WTA events earlier this year due to the Peng Shuai situation, but the ATP didn't join them then.
ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi was careful to clarify that the cancellation was due to the pandemic and not anything else.
"This marks the third year of cancellation for the ATP's China swing, typically hosted in September and October and last staged in 2019, prior to the pandemic."
"As a global sport, we continue to manage the impacts of the pandemic. At the same time, it's incredibly encouraging to have many great cities step up to host ATP Tour tennis this season."
Instead of those events, the ATP will stage several new ATP events in Seoul, South Korea, and Italy, with the Firenza and Napoli Open and Tel Aviv in Israel.