California: In a big news for tennis fans, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) on Thursday confirmed that the Australian Open (first Grand Slam of the season) will start from February 8 2021. The tournament will go ahead from February 8-21 next year. ATP has also confirmed that Australian Open men's qualifying will held from January 10-13 in Doha.
This confirmation came after protracted negotiations with Tennis Australia and the Victorian state authorities in Melbourne. The allocated dates of January 15-31 will then allow for travel and a 14-day quarantine period for all players and support staff travelling to Melbourne as per the requirements of Australian public health and immigration authorities. In an official release, ATP said, "The ATP has today announced an update to the 2021 ATP Tour calendar, outlining a revised schedule for the first seven weeks of the season as tennis continues to navigate its return during the corona pandemic."
The schedule for weeks 8-13 will be announced separately while all subsequent sections of the 2021 calendar, beginning with the Spring clay-court season from week 14, remain unchanged at this time, with all tournaments planned to take place as originally scheduled. The first week of the season will start with the ATP 250 Delray Beach Open, alongside a new single-year ATP 250 license on hard court in Antalya, Turkey.
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