- The ATP & WTA tours are preparing to restart – but the ATP’s plans hit by cancellation of Citi Open
- Rankings adjustment latest
LONDON, UK – After domestic and exhibition events tentatively brought tennis back to our screens with varying degrees of success, we look at the next steps for the tour restart.
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What does the new calendar look like to the proposed Slams
| ATP Provisional Calendar | WTA Provisional Calendar |
| Palermo Ladies Open, Italy
3-9 August |
|
| Citi Open, Washington USA
14-21 August |
Prague Open, Czech Republic
10-16 August |
| Western & Southern Open, New York USA
22-28 August |
Top Seed Open Lexington, Kentucky USA
10-16 August |
|
Western & Southern Open, New York USA 21-28 August |
|
|
US Open, New York USA 23 August – 13 September |
|
| Generali Open, Austria
8-13 September |
TEB BNP Paribas, Istanbul Turkey
8-13 September |
|
Mutua Madrid Open, Spain 13-20 September |
|
|
Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome Italy 20-27 September |
|
| Internationaux de Strasbourg, France
20-26 September |
|
|
Roland Garros, Paris France 27 September – 11 October |
|
Further blow with ATP Washington Citi Open cancelled
In a statement on ATPTour.com, ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said:
“It’s disappointing that due to these unprecedented times, the Citi Open will not be able to go ahead this year. I know how hard Mark Ein and his team have worked to adapt to new and continually changing conditions and would like to recognise their outstanding commitment to staging the event.
Unfortunately for the moment there are still large factors at play which are outside of our control. We look forward to the Citi Open returning as one of our signature American events in 2021.”
WTA Tour restart boasts Serena Williams and Simona Halep in starting line-ups
The WTA is going to be first off the blocks and it is fair to say that the draw is loaded. With players largely playing in domestic or regional competitions Palermo has attracted the world’s best European players, led by former World No. 1 Simona Halep, and Britain’s Johanna Konta will join the field.
The other big news on the WTA side is that Serena Williams will head up the inaugural Lexington event, after the WTA Citi Open was suspended for the 2020 edition.
Geographical split as players reluctant to travel to pandemic hotspots
It does seem fair to say that a lot of European players are evaluating at what stage to head to the USA, if they are considering the US Open. While there was a smattering of Brits playing in World Team Tennis exhibition events, there seems to be some debate as to whether players were comfortable with heading to the USA while their confirmed cases of COVID-19 remain high on a daily basis.
Now with the cancellation of the Citi Open, all eyes will be on whether New York is in a stable enough condition to stage both the Western & Southern Open and the US Open, or whether players decide to stay away.
Rankings Adjustments
The rankings for both tours have been frozen since March, as the global pandemic took hold.
The ATP were the first to announce their strategy for the rankings to restart.
The rankings will now cover a period of 22 months – March 2019 to December 2020.
As per ATPTour.com, the revised system plans to deliver the following key objectives:
- Provide flexibility & fairness to players across all levels in parallel with the condensed number of points available as part of the revised provisional 2020 calendar.
- Provide stability for players who cannot or prefer not to compete in 2020 due to health & safety.
- Provide a system that can adapt to further changes in the calendar if necessary.
- Reward players who perform well following the resumption of the Tour in 2020.
- Retain the principle of defending tournament points week by week in 2021, maintaining player mobility in the rankings.
Among the key elements of the revised 22-month Ranking system are the following:
- A player’s ranking will be comprised of his “Best 18” results between March 2019 and December 2020.
- A player cannot count the same Tour-level tournament twice in his “Best 18” breakdown. For example, a player who played the Mutua Madrid Open in 2019 and plays Madrid again in 2020, will count the better of those two results.
- Tour-level tournament points added in 2020 that count in a player’s Ranking Breakdown will remain on a player’s ranking for 52 weeks, or until the event in question is played again in 2021, whichever comes first.
The temporary changes to the Rankings system have been made in consultation with the four Grand Slam tournaments and the ITF. Should the 2021 season be impacted by Covid-19, further adjustments to Rankings will be considered.
The WTA have adopted the ‘Better of 2019 and 2020’ point model in alignment with the ATP Tour. As reported in WTATennis.com, the key elements are:
Under the revised system, a player’s ranking will be comprised of her best 16 results in singles and best 11 results in doubles based on the points earned between March 2019 through December 2020. A player’s ranking breakdown will include the “Better of 2019 and 2020” points earned at Tour-level and Grand Slam events. Further, a player may not count the same WTA Tour or Grand Slam level result twice in her ranking breakdown. Tour-level points added in 2020 will drop after the event is scheduled to be played again in 2021 or after 52 weeks, whichever is earlier.
What happens to the Season Ending Finals?
Nitto ATP Finals Qualification
The revised FedEx ATP Rankings will determine the singles qualifiers to the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals. As per normal, points earned at the season finale (as an additional 19th event) in 2019 will not count towards a player’s qualification for the 2020 event, ensuring a level playing field for 2020 qualification.
In doubles, the 2020 FedEx ATP Doubles Team Rankings will continue to be used to determine the eight teams that make it to London.
Porsche Race to Shenzhen Leaderboard
A player’s 16-best results from 2020 tournaments will contribute to a player’s Race Points with the Top 8 players qualifying for the WTA Finals, while a doubles team will count its 11-best results from 2020 with the Top 8 teams qualifying.
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