The Group C tournament involving the Czech Republic,  Britain and France and Group F featuring hosts Austria, Germany and Serbia at the Olympia-Halle is due to start next Thursday (November 25) and conclude on November 28.

Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced yesterday that the country will go into a national lockdown to contain a fourth wave of coronavirus cases.

Schallenberg revealed the lockdown is due to start on Monday (November 22) and initially last for 10 days.

For the past week, Austria has reported more than 10,000 new infection cases daily.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed with many new COVID-19 patients, and deaths have been rising again, too.

So far, 11,525 people have died of the virus in Austria.

Austria, a country of 8.9 million, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe - only 65.7 per cent of the population are fully vaccinated.

Most shops will close, and cultural events will be cancelled as part of the lockdown, but the Davis Cup has been allowed to continue.

"I know the teams, organisers and everyone involved in the event will share our disappointment that the Davis Cup Finals event in Innsbruck will now be behind closed doors," ITF President David Haggerty said.

"We will continue to work together with our partners and ensure that we prepare for this great event while following all Government guidelines."

Enric Rojas, chief executive of Kosmos Tennis, organiser of the Davis Cup, also expressed his disappointment.

"We are very sorry for the tennis fans, who have been looking forward to this event for months now," he said.

"We know the importance of fans for a competition like Davis Cup.

"But there is no question that we will carry all the measures that are being applied to help confine and improve the current critical Corona situation.

"The health and safety of all those involved with the event is our highest priority."

Other Davis Cup Final ties are due to take place in Madrid in Spain and Turin in Italy.