BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has postponed its forthcoming tournaments until May 2 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, according a statement released on Monday.

According to the WTA, the suspended events include the tournaments in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague.

Due to the ongoing global COVID-19 outbreak, the forthcoming WTA tournaments will not be held as scheduled. "We regret this is the case for all of our loyal fans, players, sponsors and all those who support women's professional tennis," a WTA spokesperson said in the statement.

"At this point in time, the WTA Tour is now suspended until May 2. We will make a decision in the week ahead regarding the remaining WTA European clay court events and will continue to monitor this situation closely and its impact on the 2020 WTA Tour season," the spokesperson added.