There will be no ATP events taking place in China later this year after the governing body of men’s tennis confirmed they have all been cancelled.
The ATP has updated their calendar for the final quarter of the 2021 season. For the second year in a row, the Shanghai Masters will not be taking place due to reasons related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. ATP 250 events Events in Chengdu and Zhuhai have also been cancelled. Although it is not all bad news for Asian tennis fans with the Kazakhstani capital of Nur-Sultan picking up a licence to hold a tournament during the same week the Laver Cup is taking place.
Indian Wells, which is usually held in March, has been extended to 11 days this year. The event has been delayed this season due to the pandemic and will now get underway on October 7th. The men’s draw will feature 96 players, as well as 32 teams for the doubles tournament. This year there will be no restrictions on how many fans will be allowed to attend the tournament which attracted over 450,000 people during a two-week period in 2019.
A week before Indian Wells there will be a warm-up event in the country with San Diego hosting a 250 tournament at the Barnes Tennis Center. In other changes, St Petersburg has been upgraded to a 500 event after the Swiss Indoors was cancelled. Stockholm will take place during the week commencing November 7th with the Nitto Next Gen finals in Milan also taking place at the same time.
“We’ve maintained a flexible approach to the calendar this year due to the constantly evolving nature of the pandemic,” ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said in a statement. “It’s extremely unfortunate to announce the cancellation of our Asia swing this season and we look forward to returning in 2022. I would like to thank all tournament operators for taking on the challenge of staging in this environment, including the new single-year event operators that have stepped up. Players also deserve huge credit for putting on a world-class spectacle for fans week-in and week-out, as we build toward a thrilling finish to the season in Turin.”
There is yet to be any formal announcement from the WTA regarding the status of the women’s events in Asia and what their calendar will be later this year.
The full ATP calendar can be viewed here.
List of calendar changes
Week 38: Metz (ATP 250), Nur-Sultan (ATP 250), Laver Cup
Week 39: Sofia (ATP 250), San Diego (ATP 250)
Week 40 & 41: Indian Wells (ATP Masters 1000)
Week 42: Moscow (ATP 250), Antwerp (ATP 250)
Week 43: Vienna (ATP 500), St. Petersburg (ATP 250)
Week 44: Paris (ATP Masters 1000)
Week 45: Milan (Next Gen ATP Finals), Stockholm (ATP 250)
Week 46: Turin (Nitto ATP Finals)
