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The 2021 season formally started a couple of weeks in the past, with stops in Abu Dhabi, Antalya and Delray Seaside. However now, after a compulsory quarantine interval for everybody coming into Australia, the excursions will kick into excessive gear with six—sure, six—tournaments to be held in Melbourne over the subsequent week.
Three ATP and three WTA occasions can be held concurrently at Melbourne Park, the location of the Australian Open, the week earlier than the primary Grand Slam event of the season kicks off. With a lot tennis happening in a single week at one venue, issues can get a bit of complicated. However with some distinctive, regionally-inspired event names, hopefully it’ll be simpler to inform each occasion aside.
The tournaments have been named to acknowledge key areas of the Australian state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, because the Melbourne Summer time Collection and Australian Open promote the reinvigoration of the state following the challenges confronted resulting from each bushfires and COVID-19.
The ATP occasions: ATP Cup, Nice Ocean Street Open, Murray River Open
Now in its second yr, the ATP Cup is a crew occasion that may function 9 of the ATP’s High 10: No. 1 Novak Djokovic, No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 3 Dominic Thiem, No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 7 Alexander Zverev, No. 8 Andrey Rublev, No. 9 Diego Schwartzman and No. 10 Matteo Berrettini. Solely No. 5 Roger Federer is lacking, as he continues to recuperate from a proper knee harm. The ATP Cup can be a five-day occasion working from Tuesday, February 2 to Saturday, February 6.
In the meantime, a pair of seven-day ATP 250-level occasions will run from Monday, February 1 to Sunday, February 7, with some very large names—together with 4 High 20 gamers—among the many entrants.
The Nice Ocean Street Open (“Melbourne 1”) can be headlined by two High 20 gamers, No. 14 David Goffin and No. 20 Karen Khachanov. It’s not technically a brand new occasion, because it replaces a 250 occasion from final yr, in Adelaide, which was held the week earlier than the Australian Open and gained by Rublev.
The Murray River Open (“Melbourne 2”) is a model new occasion and options one other two High 20 gamers in No. 18 Stan Wawrinka and No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov, in addition to former No. 13 Nick Kyrgios.
Each ATP occasions are named after main geographical options within the area. The Nice Ocean Street is a 243-kilometer stretch of highway alongside the southeastern coast of Australia, devoted to troopers killed throughout World Warfare I (it’s the world’s largest battle memorial). The Murray River is the longest river in Australia, at 2,508 kilometers in size, and it types the border between the states of Victoria and New South Wales, because it flows into the neighboring state of South Australia to the west.
Angelique Kerber jumped into the Yarra River after profitable the 2016 Australian Open. (Getty Photos)
The WTA occasions: Yarra Valley Traditional, Gippsland Trophy, Grampians Trophy
All three of the ladies’s tournaments can be WTA 500 occasions—previously referred to as Premier occasions. The Yarra Valley Traditional and Gippsland Trophy will run from Sunday, January 31 to Saturday, February 6, whereas the Grampians Trophy will go from Wednesday, February 3 to Sunday, February 7.
Of the three event names, one among them particularly may bounce out to anybody who’s adopted the Australian Open. The Yarra Valley Traditional is known as after the eponymous area surrounding the Yarra River, which some gamers have been recognized to leap into after profitable the event as a celebration. The Yarra River originates roughly 240 kilometers east of the Melbourne central enterprise district and flows in the direction of it, after which out into Port Phillip Bay.
In the meantime, the Gippsland Trophy is known as after Gippsland, a rural area of Victoria positioned to the east of the japanese suburbs of Larger Melbourne, and the Grampians Trophy is known as after the Grampians, one other rural area positioned northwest of the western suburbs of Larger Melbourne.
The Yarra Valley Traditional will see the return of No. 1-ranked Ashleigh Barty, who hasn’t performed since final February. No. 4 Sofia Kenin and each Williams sisters are additionally amongst a fully packed roster.
No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 3 Naomi Osaka spotlight the sphere on the Gippsland Trophy, with No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka and her 15-match winning streak additionally within the draw. The third occasion, the Grampians Trophy, sees the return of No. 8 Bianca Andreescu, who hasn’t performed since 2019.
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