Nick Kyrgios has signed to play the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart this summer. The Aussie star, a grass-court tour de force, is skipping Roland-Garros this spring, so the tournament, held from June 8-13 is a perfect fit for him.
Previously, the Australian has also committed to the ATP 250 grass-court event at Mallorca (June 20-26).
“The situation surrounding the French Open has led to some uncertainties, but we got lots of positive signals from the players concerning a commitment to play the MercedesCup. Depending on their performance in Paris, Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner have already committed to our tournament. Nick Kyrgios’ appearance is already fixed as he will not play the French Open”, tournament director Weindorfer explained.
According to the tournament, some allowances have been made by the ATP, due to the fact that Roland-Garros pushed back by a week and will be taking place during the Mercedes Cup.
From the tournament: Due to the special situation concerning the scheduling conflict with the second week of the French Open, the organizers of the MercedesCup have struck some “special agreements” with the ATP. For example, there will be five instead of three wildcards for the main draw. To be able to react on short notice to what happens at the French Open, the qualification will start on Monday, 7th June 2021, and the main draw on Tuesday, 8th June 2021.
The tournament adds that it is as of yet unsure about spectator capacity.
Weindorfer added that the situation with regard to spectators in Stuttgart is not yet decided: “Obviously, we hope that we will be able to play in front of a crowd, but we are dependent on the incidence rate, as well as the regulations and permissions of the authorities.”