All tennis tournaments had postponed until at leash 20 April.

The ATP Tour has postponed six weeks because of “escalating health and safety issues” arising from the coronavirus outbreak.

Men’s ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour have cancelled until 27 April.

WTA tournaments will not have any staged for at least five weeks. ITF events will on hold until 20 April.

“This is not a decision that can take lightly,” said ATP chairman

Andrea Gaudenzi added: “It represents a great loss for our tournaments, players, and fans worldwide.

“However, we believe this is the responsible action needed at this time in order to protect the health and safety of our players, staff, the wider tennis community and general public health in the face of this global pandemic.

“The worldwide nature of our sport and the international travel required presents significant risks and challenges in today’s circumstances. As Local authorities directives issued increasingly restrictive as well. We will continue to monitor this on a daily basis. Then, we look forward to the Tour resuming when the situation improves.”

The WTA proved more reluctant to impose a blanket suspension. The tournaments in Miami, Guadalajara, Charleston and Bogota all cancelled, there will be no play for at least five weeks.

The WTA added, in a statement, that it will make a decision about the viability of the European clay-court season, which begins in Stuttgart and Istanbul on April 20, “in the week ahead”.

The Miami Open was cancelled earlier on Thursday, then the following postponement is Indian Wells and the Fed Cup Finals.

The ATP says the impact of the suspension on the world rankings will be

The suspension of all ATP events takes place with immediate effect. It means that the two Challenger tournaments taking place in Kazakhstan and South Africa will not be completed.

Following Wednesday’s postponement of April’s inaugural 12-team Fed Cup Finals, the ITF says all World Tennis Tour, wheelchair and junior events will be suspended for five weeks.

The World Tennis Tour provides a platform for thousands of players to try and break on to the higher tours.

There will be huge consequences for some of the tournament owners, who may not be insured against such a scenario, as well as for local economies.

A loss of earnings will also be a major worry for lower-ranked players, not to mention the travelling band of coaches and support staff and officials, and the freelance hospitality, security and media community.