A player has tested positive for coronavirus at the WTA Palermo Open, which marks the tennis season's resumption after a five-month break, AFP reported while quoting the WTA and organisers.

The competitor, who had no symptoms, withdrew just minutes before the start of qualifying this weekend for the tournament which gets underway in Sicily on August 3.

Her name was not revealed but shortly after the announcement 130th-ranked Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, who had been due to take part in qualifying, withdrew because of illness.

The WTA confirmed that the tournament would go ahead as planned.