Organizers of the tournament are citing SARS as the cause of the cancellation, however, with the easing of the SARS crisis, it is believed the reason was not because the event could not actually take place but because it became impossible to market commercially given the uncertain environment in the lead up.
The Beijing event was originally moved from Hong Kong last year where it has been ran under the name of the Salem Open for many years.
It is believed that the event has been offered back to the Hong Kong government if they are prepared to underwrite it.
It is looking increasingly likely that the ATP tennis tournament in Beijing, that was postponed from its original start date of September 8, will be cancelled all together.
