Tournament & Tour Announcements

[JazzNU]

Shocked me too. When I first saw it I thought maybe it was being sacrificed for Indian Wells, but reading that statement it's clear that's not it, they made the decision they couldn't successfully stage it the way they want.

[Suliso]

I'm guessing they think they'll not be allowed to stage it with a full house and can't be profitable without.

[JazzNU]

[JazzNU]

ATP Issues 2021 Q4 Calendar Updates

The ATP has announced further updates to the 2021 ATP Tour Q4 calendar, including dates for the BNP Paribas Open, the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, California.

The ATP edition of the 2021 BNP Paribas Open is scheduled to take place as an eight-day event in Week 41, from 10-17 October, following postponement from its original dates in March due to COVID-19. The men’s event will feature a 56 Main Draw Singles, 28 Main Draw Doubles, and 28 Singles Qualifying draw.

In addition, the Rolex Shanghai Masters, an ATP Masters 1000 event, maintains its intention to stage this season, with the possibility of taking place in Week 40 (to be confirmed).

Elsewhere, the China Open (Beijing) and Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships (Tokyo), both ATP 500 events scheduled in Week 40, have confirmed their cancelation in 2021 due to restrictions related to COVID-19. Also confirmed, the Grand Prix Hassan II (Marrakech) will not take place in 2021, having announced postponement from its April dates earlier in the year.

The ATP continues to monitor the impact of COVID-19 in assessing the provisional Q4 calendar in order to ensure optimised player flow and provide as many playing opportunities as possible. Further updates to the calendar will be communicated in due course.

The updated 2021 ATP Tour calendar can be viewed here.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/atp-iss ... -july-2021

[Suliso]

Hard to see Shanghai being held if Beijing could not.

[JazzNU]

Hard to see Shanghai being held if Beijing could not.

There are other Chinese tournaments on the schedule that also aren't cancelled. So far Beijing appears to be the outlier. Obviously may change, but it could be that Beijing's province isn't allowing events such as this and others are. The other tournaments I've seen on the schedule are 250 level.

In contrast, as far as I can tell, no WTA events are set to return in China or even Asia yet outside of the WTA Finals in Shenzhen, which appear to be a go right now.

In general, so hard to tell what's going on in China.

[JazzNU]

I think this is the first I've seen for a tennis tournament, I thought there would be many more. Indian Wells started selling tickets and proof of vaccinations are required for entry.

[JazzNU]

WTA Chicago Women’s Open has been added to the 2021 calendar, a new WTA 250 tournament in Chicago scheduled the week of August 23.


https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2182462/ ... dar-update

[Suliso]

Hard to see Shanghai being held if Beijing could not.

There are other Chinese tournaments on the schedule that also aren't cancelled. So far Beijing appears to be the outlier. Obviously may change, but it could be that Beijing's province isn't allowing events such as this and others are. The other tournaments I've seen on the schedule are 250 level.

That's possible, but I would guess more likely that they're just waiting longer and hoping on change of strategy on the part of Chinese government.

[JazzNU]

Roger is never one to miss out on a business opportunity, so this is not surprising.

[JazzNU]

[the Moz]

Not so sure about the 'Lamer' Cup, but I like the world of Canada & Argentina

[ponchi101]

It has been a fun exo, but the question will come back very soon. What will be the Laver cup once Roger is not playing in it? Will it be sustainable?

[JazzNU]

It has been a fun exo, but the question will come back very soon. What will be the Laver cup once Roger is not playing in it? Will it be sustainable?

Why wouldn't it be sustainable? Exhibitions have been around in tennis for a long time and attract top talent because they pay much more than the typical tournament. It's not like they just started with Federer, so why would it end with him retiring? This particular exhibition has TV contracts, they are actually paying the players low given what they are taking in, so even more money to offer if they wanted or needed to attract players so I see no reason it can't go as long as they want.

[dmforever]

It has been a fun exo, but the question will come back very soon. What will be the Laver cup once Roger is not playing in it? Will it be sustainable?

Why wouldn't it be sustainable? Exhibitions have been around in tennis for a long time and attract top talent because they pay much more than the typical tournament. It's not like they just started with Federer, so why would it end with him retiring? This particular exhibition has TV contracts, they are actually paying the players low given what they are taking in, so even more money to offer if they wanted or needed to attract players so I see no reason it can't go as long as they want.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but most exhibitions haven't been televised, right? Maybe this is why Ponchi suspects the LC might not last much past Federer. If people are tuning in mainly because of Fed, his retirement might affect viewership, which may affect sponsorship, which may affect revenue, which may affect how much they offer the players, yadda yadda yadda. But you may be right JazzNU. And when Roger does retire, maybe he'll still play limited events like this where his ranking doesn't matter and he can commit to limited time on court.

In any case, we shall see.

Kevin