After a topsy-turvy 2020 season, we entered the second half of December without any picture about how the next tennis year will commence. The WTA has now finally announced the schedule for the first seven weeks of 2021. The season will start with the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open.
As the coronavirus pandemic is still far from over, the WTA took into account travel restrictions and quarantine requirements. These are the tournaments that will be played early in 2021:
- January 5-13, Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open, a WTA 500 level event, $565,530
- January 10-13, Australian Open qualifying, to be played in Dubai
Afterwards, players and their teams will then travel to Australia on charter flights for a two-week quarantine.