The 2021 season has not started and the expectation and uncertainty are already high. The delay of Australian Open, scheduled to start on February 8, can cause a domino effect when it comes to the dates of the closest tournaments, a calendar dance in which the ATP works against the clock to finalize the last details.
That tsunami caused by the beginning of the first Grand Slam of the course would mean that a good number of tournaments would have to modify their dates in order to be held, and even others would be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the case of Indian Wells, first Masters 1,000 of the season, which could say goodbye to its edition in 2021 due to the increase in infections in the state of California in recent weeks. As the newspaper points out L'Équipe, A saturation of the hospitals would force a new confinement in the area, so the planned plans to manage the logistics of the tournament would be completely modified. The information from the French newspaper indicates that this option, today, is the most likely.
First ATP tournaments
Apart from the oceanic Grand Slam and the first Masters 1,000, the rest of the ATP tournaments that are usually part of the beginning of the season could change dates. The appointments of Montpellier, Rotterdam and Marseille would be delayed to get ahead and not coincide with the Australian Open, which will capture all the tennis spotlights in February for two weeks. Thus, from February 22 to 28, Montpellier would be held, from March 1 to 7, Rotterdam would be held and, finally, Marseille would put an end to this little tour from March 8 to 14. Even more incognito is the first clay court tour that takes place on South American soil, but everything indicates that with this dance of dates both Córdoba, Santiago de Chile or Acapulco will have to make room on other dates of the calendar.