The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) has updated its calendar for 2021 with the addition of two new ATP 250 events in Singapore and Marbella.
The tournaments have been handed single-year licences for the 2021 season. The Singapore Tennis Open will take place from February 22-28 following the conclusion of the Australian Open grand slam tournament.
The event will be held at the 3,000-seat OCBC Arena (pictured), which opened in 2014 and forms part of the Singapore Sports Hub. Singapore previously hosted an ATP tournament between 1989 and 1992, and from 1996 to 1999.
Singapore hosted the season-ending women’s WTA Finals from 2014 to 2018 before the event moved to Shenzhen in China. The ATP 250 event will be managed by Sport Singapore and the Singapore Tennis Association, with support from the Singapore Tourism Board and the Sports Hub.
Sport Singapore chief executive Lim Teck Yin said: “This ATP 250 tournament is an important competition in ATP’s adjusted calendar for the year. Singapore’s hosting of this event capitalises on the ‘Asia Swing’ and will pave the way for future collaboration with the ATP for future men’s tennis events.
“We are mindful that the COVID situation is fluid and will adapt measures for the tournament that are consistent with the national posture. We are monitoring the situation at the Australian Open where the majority of players will be coming to Singapore from. We are committed to bring sport back safely and deliver an event to activate the industry, and to inspire fans and the tennis fraternity.”
Alison Lee, executive vice-president of the ATP’s international region, added: “Singapore has an excellent track record delivering international sporting events to a world-class standard. We have confidence this tournament will be no exception, with a primary focus on ensuring safety. We look forward to bringing another ATP tournament to the Asia region, which will provide valuable opportunities for our players for the 2021 season.”
The new ATP event in Marbella will be known as the Anytech365 Andalucia Open and will take place from April 5-11 in the week after the Miami Open. The tournament will be held on the clay courts of the Club de Tennis Puente Romano, which opened in 1979 and hosted an ATP Challenger Tour event from 2018 to 2020.
The ATP has also relocated the Hungarian Open clay-court tournament from Budapest to Belgrade in Serbia. Elsewhere, the Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas will not go ahead at all this year and the ATP said it would continue to assess opportunities for further single-year licences to fill any gaps in the calendar.
All other tournaments on the original 2021 calendar remain unchanged and are planned to take place as scheduled.
Image: Exec8/CC BY-SA 4.0/Edited for size
Share this