The BNP Paribas Paris Open in Indian Wells will be officially cancelled on Tuesday, at which point the early-season 2021 tennis schedules can be confirmed–at least in part.
With the Australian Open confirmed to be moving from late January to February 8-21 and the Indian Wells Masters getting scrapped, smaller tournaments can start scheduling around those developments. Many have already made their contingency plans–likely to become official later this week.
The Delray Beach Open, normally in February in between the Australian Open and Indian Wells, was forced to reassess its spot on the calendar because of the Melbourne move. It will now kick off the 2021 campaign, with qualifying set to begin on Jan. 4.
Prior to the year’s first Grand Slam, the only other event on the new schedule is either the ATP Cup or a new ATP 750 tournament during the first week of February. A location has not yet been determined. The inaugural ATP Cup was held at the very start in 2020 throughout various cities in Australia, but obviously that cannot happen in 2021 due to the country’s strict coronavirus protocols.
Immediately following the Australian Open, a trio of 250 events will take place starting on Feb. 22 (Montpellier, Cordoba, and a new tournament that has not yet bee announced). Another new 250 will join Rotterdam and Buenos Aires one week later (March 1-8). They will be followed by Doha, Marseille, and Santiago from March 8-14. Dubai and Acapulco will follow suit the week of March 15-21. All of those tournaments had previously been held in February or early March in between the AO and IW. The Aussie Open change forced them to find new spots on the calendar, and many were able to do so because of the Indian Wells cancellation.
In addition to Indian Wells, the only other post-AO coronavirus casualties so far are Rio de Janeiro, New York, and Pune. Auckland is the one pre-AO event that has been cancelled.
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