DOHA (Qatar): The Australian Open 2021 men’s qualifying tournament will feature a mixture of rising stars and a few veteran players keen to claw their way back to the top on the ATP Tour.
For the first time in the history of the Australian Open, the qualifying rounds of the Grand Slam event will be held outside
Australia.
The men’s qualifying event from January 10 to 13 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex will feature 128 players out of which 16 will advance into the main rounds of the season-opening Grand Slam.
The Australian Open, originally scheduled to start on January 18, had already been pushed back to February 8-21 in a reconfigured schedule for the first seven weeks of 2021 released on December 17.
“We are grateful to our friends in Qatar for hosting the Australian Open 2021 men’s qualifying event in Doha,” said Craig Tiley, Australian Open Tournament Director.
The event in Doha will give qualifiers time to travel to Australia and complete two weeks of quarantine before the warm-up events start on January 31, the ATP said.
Some familiar names in the draw include former world No.5 Tommy Robredo, an Australian Open 2007 quarterfinalist, and 36-year-old Italian Andreas Seppi, a former world No.18 who advanced to the Australian Open fourth round on four occasions.
Former world No.10 Ernests Gulbis, former world No.12 Viktor Troicki and big-serving former world No.14 Ivo Karlovic, aged 41 and the tallest top-20 player in history, will also rely on their experience at the top of the game to progress to the main draw.
Australians Alex Bolt , Bernard Tomic, Andrew Harris, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Aleksandar Vukic are also on the entry list.
Two former junior champions also to compete in Qatar.
Besides some of the veterans, the field includes some rising stars and former Australian Open junior champions Sebastian Korda (2018) and Lorenzo Musetti (2019).
World No.118-ranked Korda, a 20-year-old American who made the fourth round at Roland Garros as a qualifier earlier this year, is the son of AO 1998 champion Petr Korda.
World No.128-ranked Musetti, aged 18, also enjoyed a breakout 2020 season, winning his maiden ATP Challenger title and scoring his first top-20 victory against Stan Wawrinka in Rome.
