Aussies back with 17 events for 2022

Australia has emerged from months of covid lockdown to announce a full summer of tennis in 2022 with 17 tournaments staged before the Australian Open in January.

“It’s incredibly important to have the world’s best players competing across the country, inspiring the next generation of players and growing interest and excitement in our sport,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said.

“It’s also vital to provide competition opportunities for the playing group, and with an incredible 17 tournaments, we are pleased to announce we will have a record number of jobs for players here in Australia in January.

“The pandemic, closed borders and varying rates of vaccination created a massive challenge for us and led to the changes specifically for the summer. It’s why we waited as long as possible to secure optimal conditions for the players and fans in as many locations as we could,”

2022 will start with two weeks in Sydney, with the ATP Cup, followed by the Sydney Tennis Classic, a combined men’s and women’s event featuring a WTA 500 and ATP 250.

Adelaide will host two weeks of combined men’s and women’s Adelaide International competition, with the first week a WTA 500 and ATP 250, followed by a WTA 250 and ATP 250.

Melbourne Park will host three events from January 3 – two WTA 250 tournaments and one ATP 250.

Australian Open qualifying returns to Melbourne from January 10.

The Australian Open Junior Championships will be played during the second week of the event.

The Australian Open Wheelchair Championships will run from 23-27 January at Melbourne Park.

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said the ATP Cup, combined with the four ATP 250 tournaments in the lead-up to the Australian Open would provide a fantastic start to the 2022 ATP Tour season.

“There is no better place to kick off the season than in Australia and we look forward to seeing the fans out in force in January,” he said.