By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 14, 2020
Rome is scheduled a week earlier with a Monday final and Milan is out of the revised ATP provisional 2020 calendar.
Photo credit: Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Rome is relocating, St. Petersburg receives a raise and Milan is out.
Those are three of the prominent changes to the 2020 ATP calendar.
More: Djokovic Will Play US Open
The ATP announced its revised provisional schedule for the remainder of the 2020 season. It's a roadmap for the ATP Tour, which was suspended in March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Under the updated schedule the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome, the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, will now be scheduled one week earlier starting on September 14th, which is one day after the US Open ends.
Rome relocates to its new spot in the calendar after the Mutua Madrid Open was forced to cancel due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and will now feature a Monday final.
Rafael Nadal, who defeated Novak Djokovic in the 2019 Rome final, will play for his 10th Rome crown next month.
The Rome Masters will be followed by the ATP 500 Hamburg European Open in the week prior to Roland Garros.
The updated schedule includes the final section of the calendar comprising the European indoor swing, including events in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Open), Antwerp (European Open), Moscow (VTB Kremlin Cup), Vienna (Erste Bank Open), Paris (Rolex Paris Masters), Sofia (Sofia Open) ahead of the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London.
The St. Petersburg Open will be elevated to ATP 500 status for this season. The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan have been cancelled for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Tennis is starting to find its way back and, while we must first and foremost look after the health and safety of everyone involved, we are hopeful we will be able to retain these playing opportunities and produce a strong finish to the season," ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said. "I would like to commend the tournaments for their continued commitment, flexibility and resourcefulness in finding solutions to operate under these challenging circumstances.”
More calendar revisions may be coming.
The ATP said it continues to "to explore options for additional events to be added to the schedule, including opportunities to issue a limited number of single-year licenses for the remainder of the 2020 season."