The Day – Key questions abound as tennis season starts

When the 2020 males’s tennis season ended on the ATP Finals, Rafael Nadal captured a typical sentiment that also holds true because the 2021 tennis season is ready to start this week. 

“The world is struggling quite a bit, so we’re very fortunate that we are able to play tennis,” Nadal mentioned in London in November. “That’s the true feeling that I’ve.”

After an off-and-on, pandemic-altered 12 months for the game, coronavirus questions and an ever-evolving calendar nonetheless will likely be key elements of the dialog as issues get going with main-draw motion Wednesday on the Abu Dhabi WTA Ladies’s Tennis Open, the place Sofia Kenin leads the sector, and Thursday on the ATP’s Delray Seashore Open, the place final 12 months’s champion, Reilly Opelka, withdrew, citing an injured knee.

Opelka joined a number of gamers — a bunch that features Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic — in pulling out of the hard-court event held final February and pushed to early January this time as a part of a shuffling on each skilled excursions.

The scheduling adjustments embrace the beginning of the 12 months’s first main championship, the Australian Open, delayed three weeks to Feb. 8, and the joint occasion performed at Indian Wells, California — canceled final 12 months due to the COVID-19 outbreak — giving up its typical March dates with no new spot for it on the schedule as of now.

There are some vital milestones within the offing for stars equivalent to Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams in 2021.

Nadal can break a tie with Roger Federer for essentially the most Grand Slam singles titles for a person after matching him with No. 20 on the French Open in October; by March, Djokovic can surpass Federer’s report for many weeks at No. 1 within the ATP rankings; Williams is one Slam singles trophy away from No. 24, which might equal Margaret Courtroom for essentially the most within the sport’s historical past.

Different tennis storylines in 2021:

Federer’s return

Greater than 12 months could have handed between matches for the 39-year-old Federer by the point he returns from two operations on his proper knee. Federer’s agent instructed The Related Press he’s aiming for late February after lacking the Australian Open for the primary time since his main-draw debut in 2000.

The slams

There have been solely three Slams in 2020, as a result of the All England Membership canceled Wimbledon for the primary time since World Battle II. As of now, Wimbledon is scheduled for its typical place on the calendar, starting June 28. The French Open’s begin received shifted from Could to September final 12 months and the variety of followers was severely restricted; as of now, it’s slotted for Could 23. For the Australian Open, there are lingering questions on flights, lodges and quarantine plans for gamers and their personnel. “I’m not that excited, to be sincere. Like, I don’t need to keep in my room for 19 hours,” the Thirty ninth-ranked Opelka mentioned. “You understand, I get it; we have now to do it. However I’m not one bit excited.”

Tokyo Olympics

The 2020 Olympics, as they’ll nonetheless be known as, are scheduled to start out in July, and two tennis gamers representing Japan could possibly be breakout stars: AP Feminine Athlete of the 12 months Naomi Osaka and Nishikori. “The Olympics are a particular time when the world comes collectively to have a good time sports activities. I’m trying ahead most to being with the athletes that had waited and skilled for over 10 years, for celebrating a really exhausting 12 months (2020), and having that occur in Japan makes it that rather more particular,” Osaka wrote in an e-mail interview. “It’s a particular and exquisite nation full of tradition, historical past and wonder. I can’t be extra excited.”

Crowded competitors

Must be fascinating to observe the younger ladies who lately gained Grand Slam titles compete for extra. That features No. 1 Ash Barty, who’s 24; No. 3 Osaka, 23; No. 4 Kenin, 21; No. 7 Bianca Andreescu, 20; No. 17 Iga Swiatek, 19.

Who’s received subsequent?

There look like extra reputable candidates for first-time main champions in males’s tennis than there have been in years. With Dominic Thiem becoming a member of the membership final 12 months on the no-spectator U.S. Open, who will be a part of him? Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev all seem succesful.