The Maharashtra Open in Pune and the Rio Open in Brazil, that precedes the Australian Open, shall be rescheduled.
IMAGE: The ATP stated males’s qualifying for the Australian Open would happen in Doha from January 10-13 earlier than gamers relocate to Melbourne to enter quarantine for 2 weeks. {Photograph}: Getty Pictures
The Australian Open will begin on February 8, three weeks later than scheduled, the ATP Tour stated on Thursday in releasing an replace of its calendar for 2021 revising the primary seven weeks of the season.
The beginning date of the primary draw of the match 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 substantiate the beginning date on Thursday.
This 12 months’s Wimbledon match was cancelled as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, whereas the US and French Opens went forward with the gamers confined to bio-secure ‘bubbles’, unable to go away their lodge rooms besides to coach and play.
The state of Victoria on Thursday recorded a forty eighth straight day and not using a case of neighborhood transmitted COVID-19 however many well being restrictions stay in place in Melbourne, and worldwide journey to Australia continues to be strictly restricted.
The ATP stated 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.
Gamers, together with reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, had warned organisers in opposition to anticipating rivals to go straight from quarantine into Grand Slam matches.
The ATP match 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 match within the metropolis.
A shortened model of the ATP Cup males’s group match, 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 Seaside, Florida and Antalya in Turkey from January 5-13 earlier than preparations for the journey to Melbourne Park start.
The Auckland Basic and New York Open won’t happen this 12 months, the ATP stated, whereas the Maharashtra Open in India and Rio Open in Brazil shall be rescheduled.
“The reconfigured calendar for the beginning of the 2021 season represents an enormous collaborative effort throughout tennis, underneath difficult circumstances,” stated ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi.
“Well being and security will proceed to be paramount as we navigate the challenges forward … “
