WTA adds Linz event for November; ATP Paris Masters still scheduled

There are now two WTA events scheduled to be played following Roland Garros, with next month's tournament in Linz joining the previously announced tournament in Ostrava.

Originally scheduled for this week, the longstanding Austrian event will instead be played in four weeks starting November 7. Last year as a lucky loser, Coco Gauff defeated Jelena Ostapenko in the final to capture her first WTA singles title.

"Of course we will meet all the requirements of the WTA, which has a stringent safety protocol," said tournament director Sandra Reichel, who was also in charge of the ATP event in Hamburg, which was staged before the clay-court major. "The health of the players and coaches is as important to us, as that of our employees, partners and sponsors, and fans."

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The tournament plans to have 1,000 fans a day in the stands, while the player field has not yet been announced. There are currently no more WTA events scheduled for the rest of the season outside of the new Premier-level tournament in Ostrava beginning on October 19.

The WTA schedule has been decimated by the cancellation of all events in China for the rest of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic, including the WTA Finals Shenzhen. The WTA is not considering rescheduling its season-ending championships elsewhere, its spokesperson recently told the Times of London.

There are still 10 scheduled ATP events. These include new events like back-to-back tournaments starting this week in Cologne, along with regularly scheduled events in St. Petersburg, Antwerp, Vienna, Paris, and the ATP Finals. The Paris Masters is still scheduled to be played in three weeks, the French tennis federation (FFT) has confirmed.

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Played indoors in Bercy, organizers plan to allow 1,000 fans each day, the maximum allowed for public gatherings under current government restrictions. Roland Garros had to reduce its fan capacity from 20,000 to 11,500 to 5,000 and eventually down to 1,000 to stay in line with increasing restrictions in France. The country is still experiencing rising cases of coronavirus, having just reached a high of more than 26,000 new cases. Tighter restrictions were imposed a week ago, and could be reconsidered next week.

Plans for ticket sales will be announced in the next few days. Novak Djokovic is the defending champion. The world No. 1 will reportedly compete in two weeks at the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna.