At long last, the ATP Tour is back! After five months away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the top men’s tennis players in the world are ready to resume the season.
The first tournament of the restart is set to take place in Prague, Czech Republic. And a few days later, Novak Djokovic and other top stars head to New York to battle it out in the Western & Southern Open as well as the US Open.
Meanwhile, the ATP also announced some changes to the revised season calendar following another COVID-19-related cancellation.
SBOBET breaks down all of the latest happenings on Tour ahead of its much-awaited return.
Novak Djokovic confirms he’ll play in New York
Novak Djokovic has confirmed he is going to New York this month to take part in both the Western & Southern Open and US Open, which will both be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center due to COVID-19. And the World No. 1 can’t wait to get his season restarted after a five-month layoff.
”I am happy to confirm that I will participate at the Western & Southern Open and US Open this year. It was not an easy decision to make with all the obstacles and challenges on many sides, but the prospect of competing again makes me really excited,” Djokovic said in a statement.
Djokovic made a brilliant start to the 2020 season, going a perfect 18-0 on Tour and claiming victories in the Australian Open and in Dubai.
The Serbian is a one-time winner of the Western & Southern Open. He finally claimed the title in 2018 after being a losing finalist five times. He is one of five champions to take part in the tournament this season, along with wild card and two-time champion Andy Murray.
However, this year’s tournament will be without two former winners: record seven-time winner Roger Federer, as well as World No. 2 Rafael Nadal.
Nadal has opted not to travel to the US due to concerns about the continued spread of COVID-19 in the country. Meanwhile, Federer will miss the remainder of the 2020 season after undergoing another procedure on his knee.
Stan Wawrinka headlines Prague Challenger tournament
But before the two big tournaments in New York take place, the ATP Tour will make its first stop of the restarted season in the Czech Republic for the I.CLTK Prague Open, a Challenger tournament. The tournament will begin on Aug. 15 and will last until Aug. 22.
World No. 17 Stan Wawrinka will headline the draw, which also includes Czech star Jiri Vesely, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, and Philipp Kohlschreiber. The ATP 2020 odds will have the former World No. 3 as the big favourite to win the tournament.
Wawrinka, who will be taking part in his first Challenger event in a decade, is a three-time Grand Slam champion. He won the Australian Open in 2014, the French Open in 2015, and the US Open in 2016.
He also made the quarter-finals of this year’s Australian Open, beating Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16 before bowing out to Alexander Zverev.
However, there was some big ATP 2020 news that broke as one player tested positive for COVID-19.
“Following the completion of pre-tournament testing at the ATP Challenger event in Prague, one player has tested positive for COVID-19,” the ATP said in a tweet.
The ATP added that the “locally based” player has been put in quarantine and that contact tracing has been initiated.
ATP makes 2020 schedule revisions
The ATP has released a revised provisional calendar consisting of 13 tournaments for the remainder of the 2020 season, which has been altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the cancellation of the Madrid Open due to rising cases in Spain, the Italian Open has been moved a week earlier to Sept. 14, the day after the US Open men’s final.
The ATP also announced that the ATP Finals, scheduled for Nov. 15-22 in London, currently will be held without fans. Although, there is still a possibility for that decision to change at a later date.
“ATP remains hopeful that later this year fans will be allowed to return into stadia in a socially distanced manner, following a series of pilot events being undertaken in the UK,” read a statement.
This year’s edition of the ATP Finals will be the last to be staged in London before the event moves to Turin, Italy in 2021.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is the defending ATP Finals champion. The 22-year-old defeated Medvedev and Alexander Zverev in the group stage before going on to beat Roger Federer in the semi-finals and Dominic Thiem in the final.
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