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All the players have anxiously been awaiting word on what the opening section of the 2021 WTA Tour schedule will look like.
Nothing’s been announced publicly by the WTA (although the players were informed this week).
But the ITF issued an “anticipated” schedule Friday to ITF players that included both a number of planned tournaments on their side – as well as the WTA events.
Open Court has been able to obtain additional details about what the WTA is planning for the the summer in Australia. And it includes a big increase in playing opportunities.
It’s yet another concrete example of how the various stakeholders in tennis are having trouble getting their act together.
But the information sent by the ITF and the information given by the WTA Tour to its players this week match up.
Week 1 – three events
The first week of the season, beginning Jan. 4, will have an International level and a Premier 700 level tournament on the WTA Tour side, plus a $60,000 ITF tournament.
Where?
The answer to that is the essence of the expression “to be determined”.
The perennial “Week 1” tournament in Auckland, NZ has already been cancelled for 2021.
There’s no word on the other International-level event in Shenzhen, China. But it seems self-evident that players couldn’t possibly play in China and still get through quarantine in time to play the Australian Open.
That’s also true of the season-opening ATP Tour event in Doha.
To be held, they would have to take place in early December, before the quarantine period. Or be moved after the Australian summer to February.
Notably, both WTA Tour events will have expanded 56-player singles draws, 32-player qualifying draws – and 28-team doubles draws.
The deadline is in a flash – Nov. 23, a week from Monday.
The ITF event will have a 32-player singles draw, a 16-team doubles draw and a 16-player qualies draw (to be finalized).
Week 2 – Two WTA events, plus AO qualies
The second week, which begins Jan. 11, will also have an International-level and a Premier 700 tournament, but with smaller draws.
Both are expected to have 24 in the qualifying, and 16 doubles teams. The Premier will have a 32-player draw with byes for the top two seeds; the International tournament will have a 32-player draw.
The Australian Open qualifying – to take place from Tuesday, Jan. 11 through Friday, Jan. 15 – is listed as having a full 128-player draw although we have heard that is not completely carved in stone as yet.
The deadline for the qualifying is also a week from Monday.
Weeks 3 & 4 – Extra playing opps
For the first time, the WTA Tour is planning a WTA 125K tournament the second week of the Australian Open.
That tournament will have the regular draw sizes, although with an entry deadline of Jan. 4, there won’t be much flexibility for those who lose early in the first Grand Slam of 2021 to opt to play that tournament.
Perhaps they will add extra wild cards to the format to compensate for that.
The ITF also plans a $60K tournament that week.
Week 5 – a bonus week
As well, the WTA plans another International-level tournament the week after the Australian Open (the week of Feb. 1).
That will extend the WTA Australian summer season an extra week beyond when it would normally take place.
The deadline for that tournament also is Jan. 4.
Players who have Fed Cup obligations will have a conflict, as the qualifying ties are also scheduled for that week.
Whether those players will have to quarantine when they get either back home or to the site of their Fed Cup tie is another potential monkey wrench that could be thrown in the works.
The ITF will also have a $60K event that week. But that’s not out of the norm; typically there is a women’s event in Burnie, Tasmania that week.
Quick decisions, with not much information
What’s unclear at this point is where these events will occur.
Tennis Australia is still wrestling with the governmental authorities and the uncertainty of travel between states in the country.
We’re hearing from Adelaide, which held a joint event in 2019 for the first time (after the city of Sydney was co-opted for the ATP Cup), that most of the signs point towards most – if not all – of the tournaments during the Australian summer being held in Melbourne.
All of this planning is best-case scenario planning. There are still so many unknowns.
It’s getting late early in Australia
The other challenge is that according to the ITF’s information, only players accepted into the Australian Open main draw or qualifying will be allowed to enter the country for the five-week period of tournaments.
Players living in Australia will also, obviously, be eligible.
There’s no information yet about how alternates for the Australian Open qualies and main draw – and the cutoff there is lower than the other Grand Slams even under normal conditions – can be made eligible.
And, of course, the players will have to complete a mandatory quarantine, in a hotel not of their own choosing, for 14 days before they can even play.
Unless that changes, the players will all need to arrive in Australia by mid-December at the latest – just a month from now.
(We’ll pass along any ATP information we’re able to dig up, as soon as we can).
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A user put up link on Tennis Forum, so you’re good there. I will try to remember from time to time to put up your link when you have a good info to let others know about your site.
Excellent idea in your tweet that betting site sponsorship is something the tennis stakeholders really need to get a firm, consistent grip on. I follow stock market and betting sites/app stocks are up big because the business is growing with betting becoming legal in more and more states in the USA. I think there are a lot like me that like to wager for fun as a hobby that gives us a chance to compete/participate in sports.
On that note, disappointed that Dabrowksi, a top 10 player, and Zvonoreva, U.S. Open champ, couldn’t beat Rus (72 singles, 100 doubs) and Zidansek (86/71) in Linz doubs final. Saw you had pic on your twitter. Did you get to see it (unlike me in USA)? What happened?
Nothing “happened’, really. As things have shaken out this year, Dabrowski really hasn’t played with the same person for too long. No time to gel.
Zvonareva didn’t win the US Open with Dabrowski. They played fine. But the other two (who have played a lot together this year) ended up beating Hradecka and Siniakova today and won the tournament.
Rankings don’t mean a ton in doubles unless you’re talking about regular, experienced pairs. If you’re in the top 100 in singles, you can hit serves and returns well and a lot of doubles these days comes down to that. And Rus is a lefty.
The problem with betting in tennis is that it can make a mockery of the results at the lower levels, where the players can make more fixing matches than winning them outright.
But the ITF has a five-year, $70 million deal with Sportradar, so that’s a problem.
Right now, the issue seems to be that the governing bodies can make money from it, the tournaments have big restrictions – and the players can’t be sponsored by them at all.
So, as with everything in tennis, it’s a dog’s breakfast.
The other problem is that too many people don’t do it for fun. And when they lose, they send the most heinous, nasty, racist and threatening messages to the players via social media.
I’d also like to compliment you on your reporting. I just came from the WTA site, trying to find when the next tournament was, but nada.
I don’t visit here as often as I used to – not because of the content, which is excellent – but I find it too busy for me. I get vertigo, and am not good with a lot of moving stuff. 🙂
Thanks – you’re right, it is rather… active. When I have more time I’m going to delve into the guts of the theme template and see what I can do about it. The rotating is all automatic.
Stephanie, this (“Early 2021 sked”) is outstanding work. You dig for the news. That is what is lacking in other tennis sites. The hard news. I know you don’t like forums, but can I mention your site there so you can get more views on this site and make it go? And I could mention it on Tennis Insight which has a lot of viewers because it has the best previews of tennis maches.
Hey, thanks. Sure. The only problem with those forums is that the users too often don’t have enough respect to put an excerpt and a link. They have the unfortunate tendency to just cut and paste the entire thing – which of course siphons off the traffic (and also is a copyright violation).