Two WTA 500 tournaments will be held ahead of the Australian Open.© Twitter
The 2021 WTA season will start out in Abu Dhabi on January 5, the governing body of women’s tennis stated, as it unveiled an early-season calendar that revolves about the Australian Open. The season will kick off with the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open, a WTA 500 level occasion on January 5-13, when qualifying for the Australian Open will take location in Dubai on January 10-13. Players and their help employees will then travel to Australia exactly where they will comprehensive the mandatory two-week Covid-19 quarantine period.
The Australian Open, the initial Grand Slam of the season, has currently been delayed from its regular January slot and will take location on February 8-21.
In the make-up to the tournament in Melbourne, two WTA 500 tournaments will be held concurrently in Melbourne Park on January 31-February 7.
WTA chairman and CEO Steve Simon stated on Friday the early-season events “will operate in an environment that puts health and safety at the forefront”.
“The hard work will continue as we look further ahead into 2021 to ensure a safe and robust calendar,” he stated in a statement.
The WTA 250 tournaments in Auckland and Shenzhen will not be held in 2021 due to travel restrictions but the WTA stated it hoped to restore them to the calendar in 2022.