Quarantine rules imply no Tata Open Maharashtra in February

There had been hypothesis, however now that the ATP has revealed the first-quarter calendar for 2021, it’s confirmed that Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune won’t be held in early February. South Asia’s solely ATP occasion was initially scheduled to happen from February 1. But after the Australian Open’s dates shifted from a January 18 begin to February 8, it was anticipated that the Indian match must be rescheduled.
However, the match director of the ATP 250 occasion, Prashant Sutar, asserts the rescheduling was not as a result of postponed Australian Open. Instead, it was due to the ATP’s insistence {that a} match venue should not power gamers into quarantine.
“Australian Open (dates shifting) is not the reason. The thing is the ATP wanted us not to quarantine players,” Sutar informed The Indian Express.

“That was something the government and the city would not accept. (Quarantine for travellers from abroad) is mandatory. That was the main reason, otherwise we could have had it a week before or after the Australian Open. The rest could have been managed. It was decided to wait till the pandemic is over, and maybe we can think of having the event in November if we get a good slot.”
Organising the Pune occasion every week earlier than the Australian Open, nevertheless, would have meant that gamers wouldn’t be capable to compete on the 12 months’s first Grand Slam for the reason that Australian authorities too has strict quarantine protocols. In reality, the main shifted dates to permit gamers to journey to the nation between January 15 and 17, end the necessary 14-day quarantine, after which compete in a warm-up occasion adopted by the Open.
The have to quarantine has been a bone of competition amongst gamers, regardless of the continued COVID-19 pandemic. In August, forward of the US Open, Spanish sports activities every day Marca reported that the highest 20 males’s gamers, led by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, have been threatening to boycott the US Open in the event that they have been made to enter quarantine after they returned to Europe.
It’s a difficulty that, in the intervening time, would have brought about issues for the occasion in India.
The Pune ATP was held final 12 months every week after the Melbourne main – a slot that had been allotted to the match for the approaching years as properly. Now nevertheless, organisers are hoping for change.
“We have already requested the ATP for a feasible date in November,” Sutar says. “Hopefully, we can club the ATP with the Pune Challenger and have both events in successive weeks. That way we can sort of create a bubble for the players as they won’t have to travel. We expect the ATP to get back to us in probably the next three months or so when they start making the schedule. Then we will also have to check with the government and the quarantine rules.”
The Coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the tennis excursions final 12 months, cancelling all occasions from March until August – a significant casualty was Wimbledon. Post the restart too, many occasions needed to be cancelled, together with the Pune Challenger.
“You also have to understand the players’ point of view,” he provides. “You are coming here for a week, but for that you have to quarantine for 14 days, it doesn’t make sense for them.”