Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships set for March 13 as ATP release Q1 schedule

New season to begin in Delray Beach and Antalya from January 5 before the players head to Melbourne for three weeks

Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday, 29 February, 2020. EPA

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after winning his final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece at the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. EPA

Novak Djokovic during the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. EPA

Novak Djokovic extended his season record to 18-0 with his win in the 2020 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Reuters

Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. Reuters

Novak Djokovic embraces Stefanos Tsitsipas after winning the final. Reuters

Novak Djokovic was awarded UAE's golden card visa after the final on Saturday. EPA

Novak Djokovic during the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Reuters

Stefanos Tsitsipas plays a forehand against Novak Djokovic. Getty Images

Stefanos Tsitsipas during the final against Novak Djokovic. Getty Images

General view of the final between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic. Reuters

The 2021 ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is scheduled to begin on March 13 after the governing body of men's tennis released the calendar for the first quarter of the season.

Dubai was initially pencilled in for February 14-27, with the WTA tournament preceding the ATP event, although those dates were always subject to change once it was announced the Australian Open would be delayed until February 8. The first Grand Slam of the season is traditionally held during January.

The ATP 500 event has now been moved to the penultimate slot in Q1 and will take place, as usual, at the same time as the Acapulco Open in Mexico. The Miami Open – the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season – will directly follow Dubai on March 22.

While the ATP have announced their schedule up until the end of March, the WTA have only confirmed their calendar to mid-February in Melbourne, so it remains unconfirmed if the women's tournament in Dubai will still be held the week before the men's.

However, the UAE has already been confirmed for a WTA tournament, with the inaugural Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open kicking off the new season in January.

The 2021 ATP season will get underway with a pair of 250 tournaments in Delray Beach and Antalya from January 5-13. The circuit will then head to Melbourne for three weeks where two ATP 250 events, the ATP Cup, and the Australian Open (February 8-21) will take place.

Cordoba and Montpellier will host 250 tournaments from February 20-28, before the first ATP 500 event of the season in Rotterdam (February 27-March 7), with a 250 in Buenos Aires the same week.

The following week, Doha, Santiago, and Marseille will put on 250s ahead of the 500 events in Dubai and Acapulco.

First held in 1993, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has established itself as one of the highlights on the tennis calendar. World No 1 Novak Djokovic is the defending champion having won the 2020 final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. It was the Serb's fifth title in Dubai.

The WTA tournament began in 2001 and this year's final was one of the best matches of the season as Simona Halep edged past Elena Rybakina for her second Dubai title.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships was one of the last events to be played in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic shut down professional tennis from March until the last week of August.