Why are Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff not playing today as Stuttgart Open Quarter-Finals shifted

Being Good Friday, it has put a halt in Germany to one of the two tournaments running this week with the Stuttgart Open not playing again until Saturday meaning Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek will be playing until Easter Monday.

This is for a reason though with laws in the region in place to prevent any sporting events taking place on Good Friday. Sabalenka in particular is into the Quarter-Finals but has not even played this week. The World No.1 received a bye then a walk-over as Anastasia Potapova withdrew from her tie with the Belarusian.

Sabalenka instead like many of the top names went to the Porsche Museum as she faces Elise Mertens and will only have to play a maximum of three games to seal the title.

Coco Gauff will go up against Jasmine Paolini, while Jessica Pegula faces off against Ekaterina Alexandrova. Top seed Iga Swiatek is set to play Jelena Ostapenko. While the final eight would typically commence on Friday, laws prevent this from happening in the region.

The Federal State of Baden-Württemberg dictate that there cannot be play today. Due to this schedule change, the semi-finals will take place on Sunday. This also will directly hinder preparation for Madrid which begins on Tuesday April 22 so one day after.

Albeit for most of those involved out of the top crop, it won't be too much of an issue as they will not play until the end of the first week anyway but with Rome also on the horizon, it is a lot of tennis in a short period of time.

But of course due to laws, it cannot be helped and for Sabalenka in particular, she won't be playing that many matches even if she wins the title. Munich on the otherhand isn't under the same jurisdiction so Alexander Zverev and co have been able to play today.