WTA resumes tour in Palermo and Prague next month

Jul 24, 2020 06:00 am

WTA chief Steve Simon cannot wait for the tennis tour to be up and running in Sicily next month and hopes the Palermo Open will provide a blueprint for tournament operations amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The women's clay-court tournament, which gets under way in the Sicilian capital on Aug 3, will be the first across both the WTA or ATP tours since they were suspended in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.

"We're going into this with great hopes," said Simon. "And hopefully we've found a solution that will allow tennis to operate in this environment."

After the Palermo Open, a tournament in Prague is next, from Aug 10-16.

One of those who have signed up for both clay-court events is world No. 2 Simona Halep, who has added doubt to her participation of the US Open, which starts on Aug 31. - REUTERS