WTA adds Prague, Lexington events to provisional calendar

The WTA Tour would resume in Palermo on August 3 and the tourneys in Prague and Lexington are scheduled to begin a week later.

In this picture taken on November 3, 2019, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty celebrates with a trophy after winning the final in the WTA Tour Finals against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. This year, the WTA finals will be played in Shenzen from November 9-15.

The WTA on Thursday confirmed the addition of events in Prague, Czech Republic and Lexington, United States, to its provisional calendar which now features 21 tournaments.

The WTA Tour, suspended since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last month announced it would resume in Palermo on August 3 and the tournaments in Prague and Lexington are scheduled to begin a week later.

‘Delighted’

“As the WTA Tour looks to return to competition in 2020, we are pleased to provide additional playing opportunities for our athletes,” WTA chairman Steve Simon said. “We are delighted to welcome the teams in Prague and Lexington onto the 2020 provisional calendar and look forward to the return of women’s professional tennis.”

The Cincinnati Masters is scheduled to be played at Flushing Meadows, New York followed by the US Open, also at its usual Flushing Meadows home, from August 31-September 13.

There will then be claycourt tournaments in Madrid and Rome before events in Europe and the Asia Pacific region, including the China Open in Beijing and the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen set for November 9-15.