Los Angeles—The ATP men’s tennis tour announced adjustments to its 2021 calendar on Wednesday, axing one US event and adding tournaments in Singapore and Marbella.
The tour said in a statement posted on its website that it was making the changes as well as undertaking other measures to create increased playing opportunities “in the face of scheduling challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Two new ATP 250 events have been granted single-year licenses for 2021, in Singapore and Marbella, Spain.
The Singapore event will be held at the OCBC Arena February 22-28, after the conclusion of the upcoming Australian Open.
The Marbella tournament will follow the Miami Open in April.
Other measures to increase playing opportunities include an expanded draw size at several tournaments, including at Dubai in March and at the Cordoba Open in February and the Argentina Open in March.
The Hungarian Open, a clay court tournament usually held in Budapest in April, will be relocated in 2021 to Belgrade.
But the clay court tournament in Houston, Texas, usually scheduled in April, won’t take place in 2021.
“All other tournaments on the original 2021 calendar remain unchanged at this time and are planned to take place as scheduled,” the ATP said.
Meanwhile, Chinese tennis authorities have warned players against going abroad after teenager Wang Xiyu failed to make it to the Australian Open after testing positive for coronavirus.
The world number 118 was a wildcard for Melbourne, where the build-up to the year’s first Grand Slam is in disarray because of the pandemic, but she will not now compete following the Covid-19 diagnosis in Abu Dhabi before departing for Australia.
The 19-year-old, a former US Open junior champion, said in a statement on Sunday that she did not have any symptoms and was quarantining.
The Chinese Tennis Association responded by telling Chinese players overseas to “return to China as soon as possible after the match and avoid staying abroad”.