The ATP tour has suspended main tour and lower tier Challenger tier events for the next six weeks over coronavirus concerns.

The development means this month’s Masters 1000 events at the Miami Open and next month’s Monte Carlo Open will not hold.

All competitions on both tours will stay cancelled up until April 25 at the earliest.

Miami Open tournament director, former top ten player James Blake commented: ‘We were looking forward to hosting another world-class event, but our priority remains the health and safety of everyone involved in the Miami Open, including the South Florida community.

The unprecedented move is a response to the coronavirus crisis being declared a pandemic with the ATP concerned that large crowds will exacerbate the spread of the virus.

It isn’t clear if the women’s WTA Tour will follow suit but the ITF announced that the new Fed Cup finals week due for mid-April in Budapest has been postponed.

The six week hiatus means competition could resume at the Madrid and Italian Opens in May, leading into the French Open although no one is sure how the situation will evolve.

At the moment there is no certainty either way how the French Open will be affected, with some projections showing the peak of the virus will not be for another couple of months yet.