Cape Town – The International Tennis Federation (ITF) events scheduled to start next week in Potchefstroom have been postponed, following travel restrictions that will prevent international players from participating.
The men’s and women’s World Tennis Tour events were meant to start next Monday at the North-West University. The second event, also in Potchefstroom, would have started on Monday, December 13. Both tournaments will be rescheduled for 2022.
Tennis South Africa (TSA) and the ITF’s Covid-19 Engagement Group found that the outbreak of a new coronavirus variant Omicron and travel restrictions to and from South Africa made it impossible for the tournaments to take place.
“We had to decide to postpone the events for two reasons," said Tennis SA CEO Richard Glover.
"The safety and well-being of our participating players, coaches, support staff and match officials is the foremost priority. We also recognize that with the heavy travel restrictions in place, many international participants will not be able to travel to South Africa.
"We will work closely with our partners and all stakeholders to assess the situation and determine a suitable alternative date to host the events as soon as the situation allows in 2022."
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