2020 ATP Calendar & COVID-19 Impact

A lesson for Djokovic: limits are not just "illusions of your ego"

The world No. 1 says he doesn’t believe in limits, but this was the wrong time to try and live without them. What the world can learn—about reopening too quickly, flouting science and the persistence of the virus—from the Adria Tour’s COVID-19 crisis.

By Steve Tignor | Tennis.com
June 23, 2020

“I don’t believe in limits,” Novak Djokovic told U.S. journalist Graham Bensinger last month. “I think limits are only illusions of your ego or your mind.”

The sentiment is hardly a new one for Djokovic. Whenever he’s asked if he can win a calendar-year Grand Slam, or break Roger Federer’s men’s record for major titles, Djokovic repeats the same mantra: “I don’t believe in limits.” The philosophy has served him well on court. Like many tennis players, Djokovic is a big believer in the power of visualization; unlike most players, he rarely fails to turn his visions into reality.

Djokovic’s latest vision was the Adria Tour, a charity exhibition series that was scheduled to be played in four Balkan cities over four weekends. Djokovic saw it as a chance to showcase his home city of Belgrade to the tennis world. The night before the first leg of the tour, he posted a picture of himself arm in arm with two other Adria stars, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, on a Belgrade street. “Grateful to welcome my friends to my city,” a beaming Djokovic wrote. “Feels good to have an opportunity to show them where I come from, the beauty of this place and our people.”

Djokovic and the Adria organizers also saw a chance to do something no one else had tried: To bring tennis back just as we remembered it. Neither Serbia nor Croatia, the first two countries on the Adria Tour, had been hit hard by COVID-19. As Djokovic would later say, he and others involved in staging the event believed the virus had “weakened.” So they played with none of the usual coronavirus restrictions. In Belgrade, fans jammed the seats, players shook hands and hugged, and ball kids fetched towels for them. The sight was thrilling and alarming in equal measure. The fact that Djokovic and his wife and the other players then went dancing—indoors, with no social distancing—was simply alarming.


Getty Images

And that’s when Djokovic came up against a very hard limit, one that he couldn’t visualize his way past. He, his wife, Jelena, and half a dozen other people involved in the Adria Tour—including Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, and Viktor Troicki and his pregnant wife—have tested positive for COVID-19.

“Unfortunately, the virus is still present,” Djokovic said in a statement on Tuesday, “and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with…I am sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation, and that everyone will be fine.”

Not surprisingly, Djokovic is being pilloried in the press and censured by his fellow players. Barstool Sports called him the “village idiot,” and Nick Kyrgios described the Adria Tour as “boneheaded.” There are rumors that the ATP Player Council may move to oust him as its president. Many will see his infection as a comeuppance, and you can understand why. This spring, Djokovic earned corona-related criticism for (1) wavering on whether he would take a vaccine for it; (2) breaking lockdown rules to practice at a club in Spain; (3) describing the US Open’s original entourage restrictions as “extreme,” and (4) traveling back to Serbia before being tested on Monday.

Djokovic also posted a much-derided Instagram chat with Chervin Jafarieh, a real-estate broker turned wellness entrepreneur who was promoting an expensive herbal treatment called Cymbiotika.

During their talk, Djokovic asserted, among other things, that “Scientists have proven that molecules in the water react to our emotions,” and “Through the power of prayer, through the power of gratitude, [people] manage to turn the most toxic food or the most polluted water into the most healing water.”

Some will wonder if Djokovic thought he could ward off the virus with positive emotion. But as much as he believes in the power of visualization and the mind, he also knows that tennis requires actual physical preparation, too. Few players have been as meticulous about nutrition and training as Djokovic, who is gluten-free and observes a plant-based diet. It’s hard to believe that someone who is so careful about what he puts in his body could be so cavalier about contracting a virus. And yet he was.


Getty Images

Djokovic didn’t force any of the other players to join the Adria Tour. He wasn’t the only person involved in the decision to stage it without COVID-19 restrictions. And we don’t know how the infections started. But he has earned the criticism he has received, because he was the ringmaster of the show, and because he’s a leader in men’s tennis. Djokovic’s positive test, and those of his wife and fellow players, are a lesson for everyone, not just for the tennis world—about reopening too quickly, about flouting science, about trusting in the wellness movement and power of positive thinking, and, most importantly, about the continuing danger of the coronavirus.

What makes it worse to me is how happy and proud Djokovic was to bring tennis to Belgrade. He beamed when Thiem and Zverev joined him for dinner there, and he cried when the weekend was over and his childhood memories of the city flooded back. Djokovic’s critics say he “wants to be loved”; in this case, he wanted his home to be loved. But it was the wrong time to try to live without limits.

Andy Murray says ATP should "think long and hard" about ranking points


"There are big tournaments every single week and it's going to be very difficult for players that are winning consistently to commit to that many events. I just think we need to be a bit careful with the rankings," believes the three-time major champion.


By Kamakshi Tandon | Tennis.com
June 30, 2020

The ATP tour has announced when tournaments will restart but not if it will resume its regular ranking system, and players say they are finding it more difficult to plan their schedules.

Andy Murray, who just finished competing at the Battle of the Brits over the weekend, described it as a tough problem for the tour.

"I think they'll have to think long and hard about what they're going to do with the ranking points," the three-time Grand Slam champion was quoted as having told British press.

The men's tour is scheduled to get back up and running with events in Washington, D.C., a relocated Cincinnati, the US Open, Madrid, Rome and the French Open.

Players will have to pick and choose which to play, noted Murray. Since some events are being played on different dates than in 2019, there are also problems with when points come on or off.


Getty Images

"It's not safe for players to go from the semis or final in New York, quarters even, and altitude on the clay court, when players haven't competed for a very long time," said Murray.

"The rankings, if you can keep the points as they are, could get a bit skewed."

Plus, with some players under travel restrictions or unsure if they want to play, along with limited competition at the Challenger and ITF level, there are questions about whether ranking points should be given for these events.

Murray suggested extending the annual rankings to a longer span.

"It might be worth potentially looking at a two-year ranking for the time," he said. "There are big tournaments every single week and it's going to be very difficult for players that are winning consistently to commit to that many events. I just think we need to be a bit careful with the rankings."

- China cancels all international sports events for the year

According to the AP News , China announced that it will not stage any international sports events for the rest of the year, apart from trials for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and the neighboring city of Zhangjiakou.

This would affects at least six WTA tennis events, including the WTA Finals in Shenzhen in November and four ATP tournaments scheduled during September and October, as well as two major golf championships, amongst several other international sports events.

Those four ATP tournaments affected would be:
- Chengdu & Zhuhai (ATP 250)
- Beijing (ATP 500)  
- Shanghai (Masters 1000)

Although the ATP hasn't made any announcement in this regard yet, I heard they were working on a provisional schedule for the reminder of the season, so we may have to wait a bit to know which tournaments are still potentially on the agenda.

- No celebrations for the 50 Years Golden Jubilee:
Swiss Indoors Basel 2020 definitively cancelled

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of the third-largest indoor tennis tournament in the world, scheduled to run from 24 October to 1 November. The ATP has formally agreed to Basel’s request to cancel the tournament. As early as mid-June, the Swiss Indoors organisers determined that, in view of the current medical, social and economic uncertainty, it would be irresponsible and logistically difficult to go ahead with the tournament.

‘Unfortunately, coronavirus won’t spare any of us. And social distancing or matches played behind closed doors were out of the question for us from the start,’ is how tournament president Roger Brennwald describes the logical decision to postpone the 50 Years Golden Jubilee event until 23 to 31 October 2021.

Tickets will be refunded or retain their validity.

Source: Swiss Indoors Website

ATP Announces Four New Events For 2020

Press Release
Sep 10, 2020

Sport continues return from COVID-19 pandemic

The ATP has announced the addition of four new ATP 250 events to the 2020 provisional schedule, as tennis continues its return following suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The updated schedule introduces two new back-to-back ATP 250 events in Cologne (Germany, Indoor Hard) and new ATP 250 events in Sardinia (Italy, Clay), and Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan, Indoor Hard) issued as single-year licenses for 2020. The granting of licenses follows applications by tournament promoters and host localities able to satisfy strict health & safety, international travel, and ATP event requirements.

2020 ATP Tour Calendar updated

“Adding new events to the Tour calendar is a positive step given the many challenges our sport has faced this year,” said Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman. “Our goal was to create additional earning opportunities for players and entertainment for our fans, and to do so in a safe and practical way. We are delighted to have tennis back on court again and these new events will help us finish the year strongly, as we build towards the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.”

The provisional calendar remains subject to change and continued assessments will be made relating to health & safety, international travel policies, and governmental approval of sporting events.

View 2020 ATP Tour Provisional Calendar (PDF)  

Moscow Events Cancelled

Sep 17, 2020 - ATP Press Release  

The ATP and WTA have announced the cancellation of the 2020 VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow, due to issues relating to COVID-19. Cancellation of the ATP 250 event, scheduled to run from 19-25 October, and WTA Premier event, from 26 October-1 November, follows a recent increase in the COVID-19 infection rate in Moscow. As mandated by the Moscow City Administration, the event will no longer be permitted to go ahead in 2020.

Other ATP 250 events in the same week in Antwerp (European Open) and Cologne (Bett1HULKS Championships) are scheduled to proceed as normal. The decision also does not impact staging of the ATP 500 St. Petersburg Open, scheduled for the week prior.

The ATP and WTA look forward to the VTB Kremlin Cup returning in 2021.