Screenshot of ATP website announcement

　　China News Service, March 4th. On the 3rd local time, the ATP officially promulgated the support policy for players and tournaments under the new crown epidemic.

This series of support policies and measures include ATP250, ATP500 tournament bonuses and world ranking adjustments, etc., to help players improve their participation guarantee in the current environment, and also increase the share of the number of players supporting the team on site.

Specifically:

Bonus level and bonus pool

　　From the Australian Open to Wimbledon, the minimum bonus levels for ATP250 and ATP500 events will be increased from 50% to 80% and 60% respectively.

　　The maximum increase in bonuses does not exceed the expenditure of 5.2 million US dollars. This part of the cost will be mainly realized by redistributing part of the ATP bonus pool (usually the bonus pool benefits will be distributed to the top 12 players at the end of the season).

The redistribution of bonuses is supported by the ATP Players Union, including the top ten representatives of Federer and Nadal in the world.

　　ATP Chairman Andrea Gordonz said: "Our tour box office has been severely affected due to sales restrictions, and it is unlikely that substantial improvement will be achieved before the middle of the year. Our focus is to ensure the tour. Continue to provide support to as many players as possible. I would like to thank the top ranked players and the player union for their support of this policy, which will improve the lives of many players in the coming months."

Ranking update

　　ATP has extended the "best" logic of the world rankings to the week of August 9, 2021, to include the Toronto Masters.

From March 4th to August 5th, 2019, the ranking points for all events that failed to be successfully held in the 2020 season will be extended for another 52 weeks, with a weight of 50%.

The deduction of points will be deleted within the originally designated date of each race, and under the logic of "best", the better of the two results will be selected for the same race to be included in the points.

　　For example, for the next 52 weeks, a player can count towards 50% of the points of the Madrid Masters in 2019 or 100% of the points of the Madrid Masters in 2021.

　　The points of the events re-scheduled for the 2020 season (Kitzbuhel, Hamburg, Roma and Roland-Garros) will be calculated at 50% and will be extended for another 52 weeks after the originally planned deduction date, and the ranking system’s “best” will be used. "Logic compares with the results of the 2021 season.

　　In the 2021 season, all score points before Wimbledon will be calculated as "other best" in the ranking system, and subsequent events will be reviewed.

Regarding eligibility for the ATP prize pool, the automatic entry and commitment rules of the ATP1000 Masters continue to apply.

　　Currently, the ranking system after deducting 52 weeks of points is expected to resume on August 16, 2021 (Cincinnati).

If the rules are no longer modified, this means that traditional ranking points will be fully restored on August 15th, 2022.

　　The decision to retain 50% of the points for the 2019 season during the 2020 season suspension is to help players provide certain points protection in the next few months to better face travel restrictions and strict health and safety measures.

Protection ranking

　　Players who have not participated in the competition for 4 consecutive weeks will be eligible for the "COVID-19 Protected Ranking". This measure hopes to help players have greater flexibility in scheduling matches and reduce the possible negative impact of future matches.

　　Eligible players will use their "frozen" rankings to get 4 chances to participate, but not including Grand Slam and Olympic events.

Players can only use the "COVID-19 Protection Ranking" to participate in the ATP1000 Masters event that they missed during the non-participation period.

Site regulations

　　As part of the on-site health and safety regulations, the ATP and the tournament team worked together to increase the number of player support teams (PST), which was implemented on a first-come, first-served basis.

　　Since the resumption of the tour in August 2020, due to health and safety agreements, players have been restricted and only two team members can participate together.

Now, members of the support team can provide support to players at designated locations and official hotels on the event site.

　　ATP is still looking for other ways to provide players with greater flexibility. Safety and health are always the top issues.

COVID-19 isolation cost

　　ATP has provided up to $10,000 for each ATP Tour and ATP Challenge in the 2021 season to pay for the additional isolation or hotel costs that may be incurred during the quarantine period in case of a positive nucleic acid test or close contact.

Therefore, events and players will be protected to avoid unexpected expenses related to health and safety.

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