Women's tennis schedule through end of Wimbledon released

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The WTA released a provisional 2021 women’s tennis schedule through the end of Wimbledon in July, largely sticking to a traditional calendar, including the Miami Open in March.

The lineup released Tuesday tacks on 20 weeks to the tour's initial announcement covering the year's first seven weeks, including the Abu Dhabi WTA Women's Tennis Open that begins main-draw play Wednesday.

The Billie Jean King Cup finals and playoff series will start on April 12, the French Open on May 23, and Wimbledon - which was canceled last year for the first time since 1945 because of the coronavirus pandemic - on June 28.

After the Australian Open, which is slated for Feb. 8-21, there will be a WTA 500 event in Australia, followed by 500- or 1000-level events starting in Doha on March 1; Dubai on March 8; St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 15; Miami on March 22; Charleston, South Carolina, on April 5; Stuttgart, Germany, on April 19; Madrid on April 26; Rome on May 10; Berlin on June 14; and Eastbourne, England, on June 21.

The biggest event missing from the schedule is the joint WTA-ATP hard-court tournament in Indian Wells, California, which already had said it will be relinquishing its usual March dates because of the pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak caused that event to be canceled in 2020.