The governing body of women’s tennis has confirmed that a series of events will take place during the first week of January but none of them will be held in Australia.
WTA chief Steve Simon says plans are underway to hold a series of tournaments during the week commencing January 4th at venues that are yet to be publicly confirmed. The development comes as the Australian Open is set to be delayed from January 18th to February 8th due to their quarantine rules which required players to isolate for 14 days upon arrival.
Whilst Tennis Australia are still yet to outline their requirements for the first Grand Slam of next year, it is believed that players will be allowed to arrive from January 15th to start their quarantine. They are set to be kept in a ‘biosecure bubble’ but will be allowed to leave their hotel room for up to five hours a day. Players will also be allowed to train but not play any professional matches.
“The Australian Open, we’re expecting it to happen,” Simon told Reuters during a telephone interview.
“Obviously the Australian Open will come with a quarantine period to enter Australia so it does create challenges around the month of January.
“We’re looking right now at hopefully close to finalising in the next week or so the ability to stage some events in the week of Jan. 4 to start the year.”
It is not uncommon for tennis Tour’s to start a season outside of Australia with New Zealand and China previously hosting such events. However, the ASB Classic in Auckland has already been cancelled due to the pandemic. Furthermore, China has strict measures for international arrivals but has recently started hosting international sporting events again.
Reuters has quoted Simon saying that the WTA is working with both players and Tennis Australia to finalise their plans. Although he made no specific mention of a date where an announcement will be released regarding the 2021 calendar.
“I think we’re again getting to a good place and we’ll be able to start the year and then transition into Australia and then have a great year,” he said.
As for men’s tennis, the ATP is yet to disclose their plans for the new season. Doha does usually hold an event during the first week of the year.
