Rio tennis tournament cancelled due to Covid-19

Rio de Janeiro: Organisers of the 2021 Rio Open in Brazil said the ATP tournament would not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Due to the continued uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, the Rio Open will not take place in 2021," organisers tweeted on Thursday.

"The 8th edition of the biggest tennis tournament in South America will now be held in February 2022."

The tournament was originally scheduled for February and postponed due to the health crisis, DPA reports

"We fought to the end to be able to hold the event in 2021, but unfortunately it was not possible," tournament director Luiz Carvalho said in a statement.

Brazil is one of the hardest hit countries in the world by the pandemic. Only the United States has recorded a higher number of infections and deaths.

Brazil has been regularly breaking its own daily record for coronavirus deaths. The Health Ministry on Wednesday announced a new record of 3,869 deaths in 24 hours, breaking the record of 3,780 set the previous day.

The country passed the grim milestone of 3,000 daily Covid-19 related deaths for the first time a week earlier.

The full death toll in the country now stands at 321,515, while more than 12.7 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed.