The 2021 WTA German Open (also known as the bett1open for sponsorship purposes) was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin, Germany from 14 June to 21 June 2021. It was the 94th edition of the event on the 2021 WTA Tour and was classified as a WTA 500 tournament.[1]
| 2021 WTA German Open | |
|---|---|
| Date | 14–20 June |
| Edition | 94th |
| Category | WTA 500 |
| Draw | 32S / 28Q / 16D |
| Prize money | $565,530 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Champions | |
| Singles | |
 Liudmila Samsonova | |
| Doubles | |
 Victoria Azarenka / Aryna Sabalenka | |
The 2021 relaunch of the German Open marked the first time the WTA Tour returned to Berlin since 2008 after the Qatar Tennis Federation, owners of the original clay tournament usually held prior to the French Open, had sold the sanction back to the Tour.[1][2] In 2019, the WTA and All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) announced that the WTA Premier (now WTA 500) sanction from the Birmingham Classic would be transferred to a new grass tournament planned to be organized in Berlin.[3] Originally scheduled for a debut in 2020, the inaugural edition was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.[4]
Liudmila Samsonova became the relaunched tournament's debut singles champion after entering the main draw as a qualifier and defeating Belinda Bencic in her maiden WTA Tour career final. The all-Belarusian doubles team of Victoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka defeated Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs in the final to win the new event's first doubles tournament.[5]
Champions
editSingles
edit
Liudmila Samsonova def. 
Belinda Bencic, 1–6, 6–1, 6–3
Doubles
edit
Victoria Azarenka / Aryna Sabalenka def. 
Nicole Melichar / 
Demi Schuurs, 4–6, 7–5, [10–4]
Singles main-draw entrants
editSeeds
edit| Country | Player | Rank[6] | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| BLR
|
Aryna Sabalenka | 4 | 1 |
 UKR
|
Elina Svitolina | 6 | 2 |
 CAN
|
Bianca Andreescu | 7 | 3 |
 CZE
|
Karolína Plíšková | 10 | 4 |
 SUI
|
Belinda Bencic | 11 | 5 |
 ESP
|
Garbiñe Muguruza | 13 | 6 |
| BLR
|
Victoria Azarenka | 16 | 7 |
| CZE
|
Karolína Muchová | 19 | 8 |
Other entrants
editThe following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:
The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:
Withdrawals
edit- Before the tournament
Ashleigh Barty → replaced by Madison Keys- Jennifer Brady → replaced by
Angelique Kerber - Sofia Kenin → replaced by Jessica Pegula
Petra Kvitová → replaced by Shelby Rogers
Naomi Osaka → replaced by 
Petra Martić
Maria Sakkari → replaced by Veronika Kudermetova
Iga Świątek → replaced by Ekaterina Alexandrova
Doubles main-draw entrants
editSeeds
edit| Country | Player | Country | Player | Rank1 | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 USA
|
Nicole Melichar |  NED
|
Demi Schuurs | 19 | 1 |
 JPN
|
Shuko Aoyama | JPN
|
Ena Shibahara | 26 | 2 |
 CHI
|
Alexa Guarachi | USA
|
Desirae Krawczyk | 32 | 3 |
| BLR
|
Aryna Sabalenka | BLR
|
Victoria Azarenka | 52 | 4 |
- 1 Rankings are as of 31 May 2021.
Other entrants
editThe following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:
Withdrawals
edit- Before the tournament
- Veronika Kudermetova / Elena Vesnina → replaced by Veronika Kudermetova / Markéta Vondroušová
References
edit- ^ a b "Barty, Osaka lead strong field at new Berlin WTA 500 on grass". Women's Tennis Association. 20 May 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "German Open cancelled, says WTA". Reuters. 14 January 2009. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "The AELTC announces strategic investment in the grass court season from 2020". The Championships, Wimbledon. 18 September 2019. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Cancellation of bett1open 2020". Bett1Open. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Qualifier Samsonova stuns Bencic, charges to first title in Berlin". Women's Tennis Association. 20 June 2021. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Players". bett1open (in German). Archived from the original on 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
- ^ "bett1open: Ashleigh Barty und Naomi Osaka kommen nach Berlin". Tennis Net. 21 May 2021.
- ^ "Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty, and Others Lead a Star-Studded Line Up at WTA Berlin 2021". Essentially Sports. 21 May 2021.