The Maharashtra Open in Pune and the Rio Open in Brazil, that precedes the (*8*) Open, will likely be rescheduled.
IMAGE: The ATP mentioned males’s qualifying for the (*8*) Open would happen in Doha from January 10-13 earlier than gamers relocate to Melbourne to enter quarantine for 2 weeks. Photograph: Getty Images
The (*8*) Open will start on February 8, three weeks later than scheduled, the ATP Tour mentioned on Thursday in releasing an replace of its calendar for 2021 revising the primary seven weeks of the season.
The start date of the primary draw of the event was initially slated for January 18 and Tennis Australia have been locked in drawn-out negotiations with native authorities over COVID-19 well being safety measures.
Organisers have been nonetheless unable to verify the start date on Thursday.
This 12 months’s Wimbledon event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the US and French Opens went forward with the gamers confined to bio-secure ‘bubbles’, unable to depart their resort rooms besides to prepare and play.
The state of Victoria on Thursday recorded a forty eighth straight day with no case of group transmitted COVID-19 however many well being restrictions stay in place in Melbourne, and worldwide journey to Australia remains to be strictly restricted.
The ATP mentioned males’s qualifying for the 12 months’s first Grand Slam would happen in Doha from January 10-13 earlier than gamers relocate to Melbourne to enter quarantine for 2 weeks.
Players, together with reigning (*8*) Open champion Novak Djokovic, had warned organisers towards anticipating rivals to go straight from quarantine into Grand Slam matches.
The ATP event scheduled to happen in Adelaide has been moved to Melbourne to be performed within the week commencing Jan. 31 alongside one other males’s warm-up event within the metropolis.
A shortened model of the ATP Cup males’s group event, which made its debut this 12 months in cities round Australia, will happen in Melbourne from February 1-5 earlier than the Grand Slam begins on the next Monday.
The ATP season will now open with tournaments in Delray Beach, Florida and Antalya in Turkey from January 5-13 earlier than preparations for the journey to Melbourne Park start.
The Auckland Classic and New York Open won’t happen this 12 months, the ATP mentioned, whereas the Maharashtra Open in India and Rio Open in Brazil will likely be rescheduled.
“The reconfigured calendar for the start of the 2021 season represents an enormous collaborative effort throughout tennis, beneath difficult circumstances,” mentioned ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.
“Health and security will proceed to be paramount as we navigate the challenges forward … “
