Tennis in 2021

As we near the end of the tennis season of 2020, we can look back and see that over the course of the year, many new events have transpired since the start. The start of the year was focused on the Australian Open as being the first Grand Slam of the year, and for a moment, it looked like it would be the only one. There were various changes that happened to the tennis format, such as grand slam events like the US and French Open having limited seating available, fake fan noise and no skin to skin contact between the players, utilising the use of the racquets for after the last point has been played to touch the opponents in a new 'handshake'.

This year we saw new grand slam champions grace our screens, beginning at the Australian Open we saw that Sofia Kenin winning on the women's side, and Djokovic winning on the mens, the first grand slam for Kenin, perhaps the start of many. We then had a jumbling of tennis events, Wimbledon had announced that it would not be going ahead, but had planned for a pandemic at one point occurring and so had taken steps to ensure that if such events did transpire that it would be covered, in doing so it was able to divide some money to be given to players that would need it, a very smart move that has been applauded by all in the tennis world. After Wimbledon announced that it would not be going ahead, the French Open postponed the tournament until after the US Open, rather than playing in a hot summer Parisian day, it would be played in a cold, autumnal day in October, a move that sparked controversy due to the close nature of the US Open which would not give players a lot of time to get used to playing on clay, the chosen surface for the French. The US Open allowed for Naomi Osaka to achieve a second US Open title and a first Grand Slam for Dominic Thiem. The French Open would crown Iga Swiatek and Rafa Nadal as the two champs on the singles side, an impressive win for both players.

As the end of October nears, we see the last of the WTA tournaments have been concluded, but the ATP tour still continues on, but still no confirmation about the Australian open going ahead begs the question of if it will, though most sport commentators are hopeful, live sport with audience has been seen to be played in Australia with Rugby, it is expected that the tennis will continue, but in a limited capacity. We can guess that there will be no audience or limited Audience from the Melbourne area, it would be unlikely for the Australian Open to allow for an international array of guests, this would help control any spread of the virus and quarantining any visitors into the country would certainly prove difficult on scale as large as the tournament. Australia have certainly done a good job at limiting the cases of the virus in the country, it would prove surprising that they would risk the increase in cases for a tennis tournament. Plus with Ash Barty the number 1 player in the world, a native to Australia, playing in the tournament, there are plenty of fans to go around from the city itself and the country, without needing an influx of visitors which may carry the deadly virus. The tournament which is broadcast globally on a variety of sport networks like Eurosport, ESPN and Tennis Channel will have no trouble seeking out TV coverage, ensuring that profits are met, albeit the prize money for the tournament will be lowered to ensure that there aren't huge losses for Tennis Australia, but with the chance to lift the Trophies high above the head of the athletes, it's hard to imagine that this lowering of prize money will deter anyone from competing.

With the virus still present in most countries, it is difficult to say which tennis events will go ahead, and which will be cancelled for the year. The same can be said about the players, some of which had tested positive during the year. We can imagine that a few tennis players will take extra precautions when the tennis season starts up again at the start of 2021, with some of the top players in the world opting to take accommodation for the tournaments into their own hands, we heard that at the US Open this year, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams had rented a home so that they would have complete privacy and this way reducing the amount of contact with anyone on the outside. This is a privilege that some players out with the top 10 which haven't had as much success on and off the court will not be able to benefit from, perhaps this is seen as something to work towards for those which cannot benefit from, or perhaps it shows the prize money disparity within tennis and the divide between top 10 and top 50. At this stage in the year, we can expect some announcements from the major tournament at any point, but it is still early days yet. There are a variety of major changes that have to happen before we can expect to see live tennis in person, especially at matches that are not in our own respected countries.

What changes are we likely to see? Well many changes have already been implemented in tournaments that have taken place this year already. Touches between players will most likely be limited to racquet taps, crowd noise could be simulated like at the US Open due to limited crowds at the tournaments, we may also see a limited amount of officials on the court leading to a live hawkeye which we have seen used at tournaments before. The players will still most likely have to quarantine before any tournaments for the 2 weeks, this means that scheduling will be hindered and players will have to play less tournaments to meet guidelines, especially when rules are strictly enforced. This may cause some difficulties when defending points, but it is implied that the points are frozen until next year. This of course may change, it is difficult to say what will happen and what changes will be put in place because the situation is constantly changing, but we can assume that health and safety will be the priority for the players and tournaments. Testing may also be more common, and players who have tested positive may face punishment. We may also see some monetary aid being given to those players who cannot play in tournaments because of health, or because tournaments are cancelled. No matter what happens, we know that the top players will be the ones that will come out of the pandemic relatively unscathed, and the lower ranked players will be the ones that struggle the most.

With all that being said, tennis fans around the world, are excited about what the future holds for tennis, and wish the very best to those athletes that compete every day. We have seen so much activism from players regarding all things, from Coco Gauff speaking about racial inequality, Andy Murray about inequality in the sport, both racial and gender inequality. It is fantastic to see so many big names in the sport come together to talk about a bigger issue. It's also great to see so many athletes wearing a mask, by seeing it on TV hopefully more people become aware and also join in with wearing one. Good luck to all those around the world who are facing challenging times, the very best of this sport is yet to come.