BENGALURU: The ravages of
Covid-19
notwithstanding, tennis is determinedly crafting an opportunity-filled schedule for the early weeks of 2021.
The ATP Tour
on Thursday announced a seven-week Tour that begins with a tournament at Delray Beach, Florida (from Jan 5), which will run alongside a new event in Antalya, Turkey, also to be played on hard courts.
The two 250 Series events mark the beginning of the tennis season, leading into the first major of the year, the
Australian Open
. In an accommodative move due to tight health protocols in the region, the 128-player qualifying draws (men and women) will be staged away from Melbourne.
While the men are set to negotiate the treacherous sands of the qualifying competition in Doha from January 10 to 13, the women’s qualies will likely be played in Dubai.
The Australian Open, pushed back from its original starting date of January 18, will be played from February 8 to 21.
The authorities have further catered to the Grand Slam field with lead-up tournaments in the 250 Series category, besides the 12-team
ATP Cup
, a five-day event, also to be played in Melbourne. In a bid to level the playing field in an Olympic year, the ATP has drawn up a five-week Challenger schedule on the heels of the Australian Open qualifiers. The Challenger Tour will kick off on January 18 in Istanbul, Turkey.
The WTA rescaled its tournament tiers to the same gauge as the men, Tour-level features starting at the 250 level and going up to 1000. While the women’s Tour hasn’t announced its schedule as yet, it is expected to start with a tournament in Abu Dhabi before the Australian Open qualifiers in Dubai.
The men’s Tour confirmed through a statement that regular events which will not take place in 2021 due to the pandemic include the ASB Classic (Auckland) and
the New York Open
, while India’s lone Tour-level event,
the Tata Maharashtra Open
(in Pune), will not be staged during its scheduled February slot.
Andrea Gaudenzi
, the ATP chairman, said: “The reconfigured calendar for the start of the 2021 season represents a huge collaborative effort across tennis. Together we have been able to adapt and create an exciting start to the season.”
FAST FACTS* ATP and WTA players to arrive in Melbourne on Jan 15 or Jan 16 ahead of two-week quarantine.
* The ATP Cup, two ATP 250 events and two WTA 500s will take place in Melbourne the week (Jan 31 to Feb 6) before the Australian Open.
* First-round losers in the AO singles events set to receive A$100,000.
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