Here is the legend for every map in this article:
Disclaimers and notes before we jump into the maps:
•I don’t guarantee every statistic in this article is 100% accurate, but I’ve made my best effort to ensure as much accuracy as possible. Where inaccuracies in the data occur, I note them. This was a one-person project, so I did the best I could.
•This article is for entertainment purposes; it’s not meant to be empirical. So, don’t take it too seriously. Also, I apologize that my map program is not great.
•This study only focuses on men’s professional tennis. In the future, I would like to do a similar study for both genders; however, this article took a considerable amount of time and effort, and I just don’t have enough of either commodity left to do the same for the women’s game. For that, I apologize.
Because this study only applies to men’s professional tennis, I will often be referring to men’s professional tennis simply as “tennis” or “pro tennis.” I have not forgotten the ladies; this is just for brevity’s sake.
•Last year, I did the same project, but did not include ITF data (here is the link to last year’s article):
This year, I have made the decision to include ITF data in order to give the reader a comprehensive view of men’s professional tennis, at all levels. With ITF World Tour data included, the reader can now see every single tournament held in 2020 that offered an ATP ranking point.
•Some shorthand I use in this article:
-CH = ATP Challenger Tour
-ITFs = the ITF World Tour, the lowest level of professional tennis, formerly known as “the futures”
-HC = Hardcourt
-IH = Indoor Hardcourt
•Anytime one dabbles in world geography, there are opportunities to offend someone. Whether that be a certain nationality because I’ve inadvertently called them the wrong name or their country the wrong name; or it could be that I’ve included an autonomous region in with an unwanted claiming state; or any other of a number of possibilities. Obviously, my aim in this project is not to offend anyone, regardless of nationality, race, religion, etc. If I make a mistake, please politely correct me, and I will be happy to edit the article.
With those disclaimers in mind, let’s take a look at the maps.
INTRODUCTION
We’ll start with the World Map, which shows every men’s tennis tournament played in 2020, worldwide, at every professional level. From the elite Grand Slams all the way down to the lowest ITF M15s (futures), every tournament that offered official ATP ranking points are there for you to see in all their glory, on the World Map:
As noted above, last year I included only ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour data in this project. Here is the 2020 world map with only ATP and Challenger tournaments included:
Let’s compare that to last year’s world map of ATP and Challenger tournaments:
It’s a little bit busier on the 2019 world map, isn’t it? In fact, it’s a lot busier.
Last year, there were 614 professional tennis tournaments at all levels. This year: 245 (14 of those weren’t finished due to the covid-19 pandemic).
The pandemic cost men’s professional tennis 383 tournaments in 2020 as compared to 2019.
Here are the comparisons from 2019 to 2020 by tour level:
•ATP: 68 in 2019/33 in 2020
•CH: 158 in 2019/59 in 2020 (3 not finished due to covid)
•ITF: 541 in 2019/153 in 2020 (11 not finished due to covid)
Total: 614 in 2019/245 in 2020 (14 not finished due to covid)
Let’s leave 2019 behind for now and focus on 2020:
**Note: From here on, this article gets very detailed. If you prefer the cliff notes, the suggested reading is to scroll down through all the maps and read the map captions (and maybe any bolded text). But, if you want the nitty gritty (which I know you do!), then continue reading.
WORLD OVERVIEW
There were 245 men’s professional tournaments worldwide in 2020 that awarded ATP ranking points, all of which are shown on the world map.
The breakdown of those 245 professional tournaments by level is as follows:
•ATP: 33
•Challenger: 59
•ITF: 153
Out of those 245 tournaments:
•157 (64%) were played on hardcourts (50 indoors)
•80 (33%) were played on clay (3 indoors)
•6 (2%) were played on indoor carpet courts
•2 (<1%) were played on grass
*A quick note on the (lack of) grass: The pandemic had an inordinately negative impact on grass season. Last year, there were 11 ATP/CH-level grass tournaments worldwide. This season, none (both grass tournaments that took place in 2020 were at the ITF level in Australia). When Wimbledon canceled because of the virus, the already-in-short-supply grass season became basically nonexistent.
From those 245 tournaments, a total of 26,490 ATP points were awarded to tournament winners in 2020.
Of those 26,490 points:
•19,250 were awarded in ATP tournaments (73%)
•5,360 were awarded in Challenger tournaments (20%)
•1,880 were awarded in ITF tournaments (7%)
As you can see, the highest level of tennis, the ATP Tour, is where the vast majority of ranking points are handed out, despite that level having far fewer tournaments than the other levels. This may be obvious, but to make it big in the rankings, players must find a way to advance to the ATP Tour.
•18,070 out of those 26,620 points were awarded on hardcourts (68%)
•8,150 were clay points (31%)
•230 were carpet points (<1%)
•Only 40 were grass points (.1%)
Professional tennis is basically a two-surface sport now: hardcourt and clay. In a normal year, there is a short grass season wrapped around Wimbledon, but for the most part, pro tennis takes place predominantly on hardcourt, and less so on clay.
By Tour Level
ATP Tour Tournament Stats
There were 33 ATP tournaments played worldwide in 2020, worth 19,250 ATP ranking points.
By surface, there were:
•24 hardcourt tournaments (13 indoors), worth 14,000 ATP points
•9 clay tournaments, worth 5,250 points
By tournament category, there were:
•Grand Slams: 3 for a total of 6,000 ATP points (2 on hardcourts, 1 on clay)
•Masters 1000s: 3 for 3,000 points (2 on hardcourts, including 1 indoors, 1 on clay)
•ATP 500s: 7 for 3500 points (5 on HCs, including 3 IH, 2 on clay)
•ATP 250s: 18 for 4500 points (13 on HCs, including 8 IH, 5 on clay)
•ATP Finals: 1 for max 1500 points on IH
•ATP Cup: 1 for max 750 on HC
ATP Totals: 33 ATP tournaments in 2020 (24 HCs, including 13 IH, and 9 clay) for 19,250 points (14,000 HC points, 5,250 clay points).
The ATP level, like pro tennis in general, is played mostly on hardcourts.
Challenger Tour Tournament Stats
There were 59 ATP Challenger Tour tournaments contested in 2020 (3 unfinished), worth 5,360 ATP points.
By surface, there were:
•33 hardcourt tournaments (19 indoors), worth 2,890 points
•24 clay tournaments (1 indoors), worth 2,290 points
•2 indoor carpet tournaments, worth 180 points.
The Challenger Tour usually has more clay, per capita, than the other levels. This is due to Europe usually hosting around half of all Challengers every year. Europe, unlike most other areas of the world, plays more tournaments on clay than on hardcourts.
By tournament category, there were:
•CH 125s: 10 for 1,250 points (4 on HCs, 6 on clay)
•CH 110s: 0
•CH 100s: 10 for 1,000 points (4 HCs, including 2 IH, 5 clay, and 1 indoor carpet)
•CH 90s: 2 for 180 points (both on HC, including 1 indoors)
•CH 80s: 36 for 2,880 points (22 HCs, including 14 IH, 13 clay, including 1 indoors, and one indoor carpet tournament)
•CH 50: 1 for 50 points (a HC tournament in Potchefstroom, South Africa that wasn’t finished due to covid).
Challenger Total: 59 tournaments in 2020 (33 HCs, including 19 IH, 24 clay, including 1 indoors, and 2 indoor carpet) for 5,360 ATP points.
Note: CH 110s are usually the least represented tournament category on the CH Tour in a normal year (most tournaments that have 110 money go ahead and max it out to the CH 125 level instead). But, this year the pandemic wiped any planned CH 110s completely out. Hence the lack of that particular category.
ITF World Tour Tournament Stats
There were 153 ITF tournaments played in 2020 (11 unfinished) worth 1,880 ATP points.
By surface, there were:
•100 hardcourt tournaments (18 indoors), worth 1,180 points
•47 clay tournaments (2 indoors), worth 610 points
•4 indoor carpet tournaments, worth 50 points
•2 grass tournaments (1 unfinished), worth 40 points
By tournament category, there were:
•ITF M25: 35 for 700 points (18 HC, 14 clay, 1 indoor carpet, and 2 grass)
•ITF M15: 118 for 1,180 points (82 HC, 33 clay, and 3 indoor carpet)
ITF Totals: 153 tournaments in 2020 (100 HC, 47 clay, 4 carpet, 2 grass) for 1,880 ATP points (1,180 from HCs, 610 from clay, 50 from carpet, 40 from grass).
The ITF Tour is very diverse. Usually played in every corner of the globe, on every surface, and played every week of the year, there’s an ITF for everyone.
That’s the world overview, comprehensively broken down by tour level. Now, let’s get to the fun part of this project and look at the maps by continent (and by select regions/countries):
*As a reminder (and so you don’t have to scroll all the way to the beginning), here is the key to these maps:
PROFESSIONAL TENNIS IN 2020, BY CONTINENT:
1. EUROPE
There were 116 total tournaments in Europe, worth 13,400 ATP points, at all professional levels in 2020.
Broken down by tour level, there were:
- 16 ATP tournaments in Europe in 2020, for 9,750 ATP points:
- 11 HC tournaments, all indoors, for 5,750 ATP points:
- ATP Tour Finals
- 1 ATP M1000
- 4 ATP 500s
- 5 ATP 250s
- 5 Clay tournaments for 4,000 ATP points:
- 1 Grand Slam
- 1 ATP M1000
- 1 ATP 500
- 2 ATP 250s
- 11 HC tournaments, all indoors, for 5,750 ATP points:
- 31 Challengers for 2,810 points:
- 10 CH hardcourts, all indoors
- 19 CH clay, 1 indoor
- 2 CH indoor carpet
- 69 ITFs for 840 points:
- 43 ITF hardcourts (18 indoors)
- 22 ITF clay (3 indoors)
- 4 ITF indoor carpet
Broken down by surface, there were:
- 64 hardcourt tournaments (44 IH) in Europe at all levels, worth 7,000 points total
- 46 clay tournaments (4 indoors) in Europe at all levels, worth 6,180 points total
- 6 indoor carpet tournaments in Europe at all levels, worth 220 points total
Of the 245 tournaments played worldwide in 2020, 116 were in Europe (47%). Europe was also the home to 47 out of the 92 pro tournaments above ITF-level (51%).
Europe also awarded more than half (51%) of all professional ranking points available in 2020.
Europe was the epicenter of professional tennis in 2020. For that reason, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the continent and look at it by region/country.
By region/country
*Note: I have labeled any location that hosted more than one tournament this year. It was too time consuming to label every tournament on every map. But use the key to find some of the events; for example, in France, you’ll know that the triangle is Roland Garros, the large hexagon is Paris Bercy, and the circles are the ATP 250s that were hosted in the country in 2020.
Iberian Peninsula
There were 26 tournaments at all professional levels in Iberia in 2020, worth 640 points:
•0 ATP tournaments in Iberia in 2020
•5 CHs for 400 points
-all 5 on clay
-all 5 were CH 80s
•21 ITFs for 240 points
-12 on hardcourt, 9 on clay
Overall, by surface there were:
•12 on HC
•14 on Clay
Iberia did a good job of providing playing opportunities to its lower ranked players, hosting a full 12% of all CH/ITF tournaments that took place in 2020. But it wasn’t able to host any ATP Tour-level tournaments due to the pandemic.
France
There were 18 tournaments at all professional levels in France in 2020, worth 4,075 points:
•4 ATP tournaments in France in 2020 for 3,500 points
-1 GS (clay)
-1 M1000 (IH)
-2 ATP 250s (both IH)
•5 CHs worth 465 points
-4 IH
-1 clay
-1 CH 125 (Clay)
-1 CH 100 (IH)
-3 CH 80s (all IH)
•9 ITFs for 110 points
-6 IH
-3 Indoor Carpet
Overall, by surface there were:
•13 on HC (all indoors)
•3 on indoor carpet
•2 on clay
France was the center of top Tour-level action in Europe, holding 36% of European ATPs, and 18% of ATPs that took place worldwide.
British Isles
There were only 4 tournaments at all professional levels on the British Isles in 2020, worth a maximum 1,560 points:
•1 ATP tournament in the UK in 2020 for max 1,500 points (Tour Finals on IH)
•0 CHs in the UK in 2020
•3 ITFs for 60 points (all 3 IH)
All tournaments in the British Isles were on indoor hardcourt in 2020.
The pandemic particularly hurt the UK, because it took away grass season. Last season, in addition to the Tour Finals, the UK of course held Wimbledon, and five other grass ATP/CH tournaments. Here is the UK’s map in 2019 (note all the green missing this year):
Italy
There were 11 tournaments at all professional levels in Italy in 2020, worth 2,095 points:
•2 ATP tournaments in Italy in 2020 for 1,250 points
-1 M1000 (Clay)
-1 ATP 250 (Clay)
•9 CHs worth 845 points
-3 IH
-6 clay
-1 CH125 (Clay)
-4 CH 100s (all Clay)
-4 CH 80s (3 IH, 1 Clay)
•0 ITFs in Italy in 2020
Overall, by surface there were:
•8 on clay
•3 on indoor hardcourt
Italy has been establishing a top-rate Challenger Tour program. Despite the pandemic doing its best to halt that momentum, Italy once again did well in the CH arena, holding ~30% of all of Europe’s CHs.
Germany
There were 10 tournaments at all professional levels in Germany in 2020, worth 1,390 ATP points:
•3 ATP tournaments in Germany in 2020 for 1,000 points
-1 ATP 500 (clay)
-2 ATP 250s (both IH)
•4 CHs worth 340 points
-2 IH (both CH 80s)
-2 Indoor Carpet (CH 100 & CH 80)
•3 ITFs for 50 points
-2 IH
-1 Indoor Carpet
Overall, by surface there were:
•6 on hardcourt (all indoors)
•1 on clay
•3 on indoor carpet
Central and Southern Europe
Central Europe (Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia all held tournaments in the region in 2020):
There were 15 tournaments in Central Europe in 2020, worth 1,460 points:
•2 ATP tournaments in Central Europe in 2020, for 750 points
-1 ATP 500 (IH)
-1 ATP 250 (Clay)
•5 CHs worth 580 points
-4 Clay (all CH 125s in Czech Republic)
-1 IH (CH 80 in Slovakia)
•8 ITFs for 130 points
-6 Clay
-1 IH
South Europe/Balkans (Croatia, Bulgaria, and Greece all held tournaments in the region in 2020):
There were 13 tournaments in the Balkans and Southern Europe in 2020, worth 440 ATP points:
•1 ATP tournament in the region in 2020, an ATP 250 in Bulgaria on Indoor Hardcourt
•1 CH in the region, a CH 80 on clay in Croatia
•11 ITFs worth 110 points
-10 on HC in Heraklion, Greece
-1 on Clay
Overall, by surface in both regions, there were:
•14 on hardcourt (4 indoors)
•13 on clay
Scandinavia
There were zero tournaments in Scandinavia at all professional levels in 2020.
Those shown on the map are in Germany (Hamburg), Poland (Poznan), St. Petersburg ATP 500, and an Estonian ITF.
The pandemic hit pro tennis particularly hard in Scandinavia.
Eastern Europe and Russia
Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Romania, and Estonia all held tournaments in the region in 2020):
There were 5 tournaments in Eastern Europe at all professional levels in 2020, worth 210 ATP points:
•Zero ATP tournaments in the region in 2020
•2 CHs worth 180 points (both in Romania on clay, a CH 100 & CH 80)
•3 ITFs worth 30 points (2 on clay, 1 on IH)
Russia:
There were 6 tournaments in Russia at all professional levels in 2020, worth 570 points:
•1 ATP tournament in Russia in 2020, an ATP 500 in St. Petersburg on Indoor Hardcourt
•Zero CHs in Russia in 2020
•5 ITFs (4 IH, 1 Clay)
Overall, by surface in Eastern Europe and Russia, there were:
•6 on hardcourt (all indoors)
•5 on clay
2. AFRICA
There were 44 tournaments on the African continent at all professional levels in 2020, worth 480 ATP points (410 on HC, 70 on clay):
•Zero ATP tournaments on the entire continent in 2020
•Only 1 CH on the entire continent in 2020, worth 50 points
-Potchefstroom CH 50, the lowest level CH category; this tournament was not finished due to the pandemic
•43 ITFs worth 430 points
-36 HC
-7 Clay
-Note: Those 36 HC ITFs were all held in Monastir, Tunisia (23 ITFs held) or Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (13 held). Six of the seven clay ITFs were all in Cairo. The other was in Melilla, an autonomous city belonging to Spain, in Moroccan territory.
Overall, by surface the continent had:
•37 on hardcourt (3 locations)
•7 on clay (2 locations)
3. ASIA
There were 26 professional tournaments in all of Asia in 2020, worth 1,825 ATP points (11 on HC, 15 on Clay):
•4 ATP tournaments in Asia in 2020, worth 1,250 points
-1 ATP 500 in United Arab Emirates (HC)
-3 ATP 250s (Doha, Pune on HC & Nur Sultan on IH)
•4 CHs worth 385 points
-CH 125 in India, CH 100 in Istanbul, two CH 80s in Bangkok (all on HC)
•18 ITFs in Asia, worth 190 points
-3 HC
-15 Clay (14 in Antalya, Turkey; 1 in India)
There was one professional tournament in Asia for every 172 million people in 2020. China and Japan’s pro tennis scenes, in particular, were devastated by the pandemic. Last year, there were 20 ATP and Challenger tournaments in those two countries. This year, zero.
Here’s China and Japan’s map in 2019 (compare it to the 2020 map above):
Let’s look at a few of the regions in Asia a little more closely:
Middle East (Turkey, UAE, Qatar all held tournaments in the region in 2020)
Note: Egypt is included in the “Africa” section and Heraklion is in the “Europe” section. I included Istanbul in this section, and the “Asia” section in general, for ease of data sorting.
There were 18 professional tournaments held in the Middle East (not including Egypt) in 2020.
Note: If we include Egypt in this section, the number would increase by 19 ITFs, for a total of 37 tournaments.
•2 ATPs (500 Dubai, 250 Doha) both on HC for 750 points
•1 CH worth 100 points (Istanbul – HC)
•15 ITFs for 160 points (14 in Antalya on clay; 1 in Doha on HC)
By surface, there were:
•4 (17 if you include Egypt) on HC
•14 (20 if you include Egypt) on clay
The majority of tournaments in the Middle East were held on clay, but most of those were ITFs in Antalya, Turkey. Every tournament above ITF level in the region in 2020 were held on hardcourts.
India
There were only 3 professional tournaments in all of India in 2020, worth 385 ATP points:
-1 ATP tournament (Pune 250 on HC)
-1 CH (Bengaluru 125 on HC)
-1 ITF (Clay)
Central Asia
There were 2 professional tournaments in Central Asia in 2020, worth 330 ATP points:
-Both were in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan on IH (ATP 250 and CH 80 that went unfinished due to the pandemic)
East Asia
There were only 3 professional tournaments in the most populated region of the world in 2020, worth a measly 170 points:
-Zero ATP tournaments in East Asia in 2020
-2 CHs, both CH 80s on the HCs of Bangkok pre-AO
-1 ITF on HC in Hong Kong to start 2020
Last year, Asia had 43 ATP and Challenger tournaments alone, plus countless ITFs. Take a look at last year’s ATP/CH map and compare it to this year’s:
Asia in 2019:
Asia in 2020:
Ouch!
4. AUSTRALIA AND OCEANIA
There were 12 professional tournaments at all levels in Australia/Oceania in 2020, worth a max of 3,755 ATP points (10 of the 12 were on HC, 2 on grass):
•4 ATP tournaments in Australia/Oceania in 2020, worth 3,250 points
-AO on HC
-ATP Cup on HC
-2 ATP 250s both on HC (Adelaide & Auckland)
•5 CHs worth 455 points (all on HC)
-1 CH 125
-1 CH 90
-3 CH 80s
•3 ITFs worth 50 points
-2 Grass ITFs (1 unfinished because of the pandemic)
-1 HC
Note: The grass ITFs in Australia were the only two professional tournaments played on grass in all of 2020.
Australia, of course, used to be the co-grass court Mecca along with Britain. The AO was played on grass until the late 1980s. So it’s fitting that it got to hold the little grass court tennis there was this year.
Because Australia was largely missed by the pandemic, it dished out 17% of all ATP Tour-level ranking points in 2020.
5. SOUTH AMERICA
There were only 14 professional tournaments in South America in 2020, all on clay, worth 1,750 ATP points:
•4 ATP tournaments in South America in 2020, worth 1,250 points
-1 ATP 500 in Rio, Brazil
-3 ATP 250s
•5 CHs worth 400 points (all Clay CH 80s)
•5 ITFs worth 100 points (all Clay M25s)
South America has played exclusively on clay the last two years. However, with its torch bearing tournament, the ATP 500 in Rio, allegedly experiencing financial difficulties, that could be changing in the future. The South American “Golden Swing” of ATP tournaments each spring follows the Aussie Open HC swing and precedes the “Sunshine Double” American spring HC swing. Therefore, the continent’s clay swing usually has a difficult time attracting top players due to the surface change. This is speculation, but I would not be surprised to see more blue on South America’s map in future years.
6. NORTH AMERICA
There were 33 professional tournaments in North America in 2020 (30 on HC, 3 on Clay), worth 5,400 ATP points:
•5 ATP tournaments in North America in 2020, worth 4,000 points
-U.S. Open on HC
-1 ATP Masters 1000 on HC
-1 ATP 500 on HC
-2 ATP 250s on HC
Note: Three of the five ATP tournaments held in North America in 2020 were in New York City (USO, “Cincy”, and NY Open)
•12 CHs worth 1,180 points in North America in 2020 (all on HC)
-2 CH 125s both on HC
-2 CH 100s (1 on HC, 1 IH)
-1 CH 90 on IH
-7 CH 80s (4 IH, 3 HC)
•16 ITFs worth 220 points
-13 on HC
-3 on green clay
Note: 5,340 of the 5,400 ATP points available in North America in 2020 were on HC (60 on green clay).
Let’s have a look at North America by country/region:
United States
There were 19 professional tournaments in the U.S. in 2020 (16 on HC, 3 on green clay), worth 4,460 ATP points:
•4 ATP tournaments in the U.S. in 2020, worth 3,500 points
-USO, “Cincy”, NYO, and Delray Beach
•8 CHs in America in 2020, worth 830 points
-2 CH 125s on HC
-1 CH 100 on IH
-5 CH 80s (3 IH, 2 HC)
•7 ITFs worth 130 points
-4 HC
-3 Green Clay
Note: 19 of the 33 pro tournaments in North America were held in the U.S., including 4 of the 5 ATP tournaments. Of the 5,400 ATP points awarded on the continent in 2020, 4,460 came from American tournaments.
The United States was able to hold more professional tournaments than any other country in the world, except Tunisia (Monastir held 23 ITFs) and Egypt (Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh combined to hold 19 ITFs).
Canada
There were only 2 professional tournaments that took place in Canada in 2020, both Challengers on IH (a CH 90 and a CH 80), worth 170 points.
Mexico
There were 10 professional tournaments in Mexico in 2020, worth 750 ATP points:
-1 ATP 500 (Acapulco) on HC
-2 CHs both on HC (a CH 100 & CH 80)
-7 ITFs, all at an outdoor HC venue in Cancun
Caribbean/Central America
There were only 2 professional tournaments in this region in 2020: two ITF $15Ks in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on hardcourts, for a total of 20 ATP points.
7. ANTARCTICA
NOTES/OBSERVATIONS
Here are some general notes and observations that I’ve found from reviewing the data and maps (let me know on Twitter @tennisinaloha if you see anything interesting):
•Week with most points available to winners: Week 38 (Second week of U.S. Open – 2485 points available)
• Week with the least points available (outside of the pandemic break): Week 34 (20 points available at the Vogau ITF M25, the first week back from the pandemic)
• First tournament of the year: Te Anau ITF M15 in New Zealand, in Week 1
• Last tournament of the year: Monastir ITF M15, which begins December 28th
• Earliest tournament of the day (tournament closest to the left side of the international date line): Auckland ATP 250, Week 3
• Latest tournament of the day (tournament closest to the right side of the international date line): Los Angeles ITF M25, Week 2
•Europe had almost half of the total tournaments worldwide this year (47%) and more than half of the ATP points available worldwide were in Europe
•62% of professional tournaments held in 2020 were on hardcourts; 33% on clay
•Grass is grossly underrepresented on tour in normal years; in this pandemic year: not even 1% of worldwide tournaments were held on grass
•Last year, 71% of all European tournaments were held on clay; This year: 54% of Europe’s tournaments were HC, only 41% clay
•Despite the relative lack of clay tournaments in Europe this year, 69% of all clay tournaments worldwide were still held in Europe
•South America is the only continent that had only one surface available to play on: clay (North America had 30 HCs, 3 clay; Australia had 10 HCs, 2 grass)
•Europe held 16/33 (48%) of the worldwide ATP tournaments in 2020; 30/59 (51%) of Challenger tournaments; and 66/153 (43%) of ITFs
•Taking away the venues that hold near-weekly ITFs (such as Monastir, Tunisia), the U.S. had the most tournaments overall of any country (19 tournaments overall; France second at 18)
•The country with the most tournaments held was, in fact, Tunisia (all of them held in the resort city of Monastir – 23 tournaments)
•South America needs more tournaments (only 14 at all levels, all on clay)
•India had one tournament for every 466,666,667 people (3 total, for a population of 1.4 billion).
•The entire continent of Africa had 1 (!!) tournament above ITF-level, and that was the lowest-possible level tournament above ITFs: an unfinished CH 50 in Potchefstroom, South Africa
•What does the professional tennis scene look like in the UK next year, when the Tour Finals head to Italy? Only 3 ITFs were played in the UK in 2020 outside of the Tour Finals. Of course, we assume it will have Wimbledon and pre-Wimbledon grass tournaments, but some investments are needed at all three professional levels in the UK in the near future
•Greece needs an ATP (or at least a Challenger) tournament
•2020 saw yet another year with no professional tennis on the beautiful Hawaiian Islands 😦
CONCLUSION
The big takeaway from this year in men’s professional tennis is the big takeaway from the year in general: the Covid-19 pandemic really uprooted life and our way of doing business. Everyone knew that much without looking at a map, but seeing the 2019 map juxtaposed against the 2020 one, it becomes even more blatantly obvious.
Here’s to 2021 going significantly smoother. Until then, I hope this ungodly long article was worth your while, and I will catch you in 2021.
By: Judson Wall
Twitter: @tennisinaloha
Date: December 18, 2020
Tennis in Aloha 