LONDON, March 13, 2019 (Press Release)
The ATP has announced the release of its 2020 ATP Tour calendar, a season featuring 63 ATP tournaments across 29 countries, in addition to the four Grand Slams, as well as the introduction of the ATP Cup at the start of the year for the first time. The full 2020 ATP Tour calendar can be viewed here.
The 2020 season will kick off with the inaugural ATP Cup, a new team event that has been strategically integrated into the calendar to serve as a major launch to the ATP season. The ATP Cup will take place as a 10-day event in parallel across three Australian cities – Sydney, Brisbane, and one additional city to be announced in due course. The players’ team event, held in partnership with Tennis Australia, will feature 24 countries competing for US$15 million in prize money, the biggest prize purse of any ATP tournament on the calendar, and a maximum of 750 ATP Rankings points at stake.
Other changes in the calendar include:
– The ATP 250 event in Pune, India, moving from week 1 to week 5 in the ATP calendar, alongside Montpellier and Cordoba.
– The ATP 250 event in Sofia, Bulgaria, moving from week 5 to week 39 in the ATP calendar, alongside Chengdu and Zhuhai.
– The 2020 season also sees the return of Adelaide in week 2 of the ATP calendar for the first time since 2008.
– ATP has an open application in process for an ATP 250 grass court event in Europe to take place the week before Wimbledon, currently held in Antalya.
The season will culminate with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Nitto ATP Finals, first held in Tokyo in 1970, as The O2 in London hosts the season finale for a twelfth consecutive year.
“The 2020 ATP Tour calendar will provide a global stage for the world’s greatest players to battle over 11 months for prestigious ATP titles, coveted ATP rankings points, and the ultimate prize of finishing the season as year-end ATP Tour No.1,” said Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President. “2020 will also see the launch of the ATP Cup, an event that has all the ingredients to become something very special at start of the season, and we look forward to seeing it come to fruition through our partnership with Tennis Australia.”
In addition, all ATP tournaments on the 2020 calendar will feature the Shot Clock, one of many innovations stemming from the award-winning Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, a tournament that will continue to serve as a platform to trial innovations and promote the future stars of the sport.
The ATP Tour has attracted record audiences on site, on television and online in recent years with more than 4.5 million fans attending tournaments, and almost 1 billion viewers tuning in throughout the season.