2021 Australian Open set for early February start

The 2021 Australian Open is set to begin at the start of February which is pending approval from the Victorian government, it has been revealed.

Next year's tournament was initially set to run between January 18-31 but coronavirus restrictions which wouldn't let players into the country to prepare before the new year put a spanner in the works.

At present, players would need to quarantine for two weeks when arriving in Australia with the Sydney Morning Herald reporting that “players have been advised the Australian Open will most likely start on February 1, pending Victorian government approval for them to travel to Melbourne in the first week of January”.

The report adds that “players are set to arrive by January 7 at the latest, before completing a 14-day quarantine period”.

This in turn would have a knock on effect on tournaments taking place to begin the ATP/WTA season as warm-ups as well as of course the ATP Cup.