FILE PHOTO: Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Shanghai Masters - Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai, China - October 6, 2023 ATP chairperson Andrea Gaudenzi during the press conference REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
(Reuters) - The Estoril Open will rejoin the ATP circuit next year while Metz will no longer conduct a tournament, the governing body of men's tennis said as it announced a 59-event calendar for the 2026 season.
The Estoril tournament, which had been operating under an ATP licence since 2015, was dropped from the calendar for the 2025 season but will now be held as an ATP 250 tournament in July, a week after the Wimbledon Grand Slam concludes.
In other changes, the Marseille ATP 250 tournament will switch from February to October while the Stockholm ATP 250 event will move from October to November.
The season will feature nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, seven of which will be played across 12 days, apart from 16 ATP 500 events and 29 ATP 250 events.
"With premium events in some of the most iconic cities, we're showcasing what makes our sport so special," ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said in a statement on Monday.
"Last season, we saw record-breaking attendance, and we're excited to keep that momentum going into next year."
The season will begin on Jan. 2 with the United Cup, with players enjoying a few more days off.
The $10 million mixed team tournament, the result of a partnership between Tennis Australia and the ATP and WTA tours, began its third edition in Perth on Dec. 27 last year, just 33 days after the Davis Cup finals had concluded in Spain.
The ATP Finals will be hosted in Turin while the Next Gen ATP Finals will be played in Jeddah for a fourth year.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)
