It’s not exactly been the greatest of years for tennis, 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the sport hard, with many stars not able to travel around the world for tournaments, and many tournaments either cancelled or delayed, then only to be played behind closed doors.

For the first time since 1945 Wimbledon was cancelled, while the French Open was pushed to November and now there’s serious threat as to whether the Australian Open can go ahead as normal.

Next year is set to be a big year for tennis though and it’s believed most major events will go ahead as planned, even if it is without fans in the stands.

Below you’ll find some of the key events taking place, alongside who we expect to be the main contenders…

Wimbledon
There will be more eyes on Wimbledon than ever in 2021 as it will return no matter what according to tennis chiefs. Sally Bolton, the Chief Executive of the All England Club has said it will go ahead even behind closed doors, which of course would still be bad news for the strawberries and cream sellers across the UK.

Bookmakers are already offering odds on the event, and plenty are taking them up on it, particularly new customers with free bets and risk free offers. The beauty of the latter is that you will receive your money back as a free bet if it loses, so if a player is to pull out, or indeed not win the tournament you won’t lose out.

In the Men’s singles, the reigning champion Novak Djokovic with him priced at 6/4, while Rafa Nadal, who reached the Semi Finals last time, while Roger Federer is a much longer shot at 15/2.

In the women’s singles, Simona Halep, who won back in 2019 is once again among the contenders, but it’s Ashleigh Barty who currently leads the back at 6/1, with Serena Williams and Bianca Andrescu also among the contenders.

The Olympic Games
The top stars will also have the Olympics to contend with this year in what is always a welcome and exciting break from the Grand Slams. Some huge stars have won Gold in the Olympics down the years with Andy Murray having won the last two men’s singles events.

It’s unlikely he’ll be able to make it a hat-trick but it could be a tournament he looks to focus his attention on given he’s struggled with injury for some time.

Rafa Nadal has also had success, winning in 2008, while Serena Williams enjoyed Gold at 2012, with her sister winning the women’s singles 12 years previously at Sydney 2000.

At Tokyo we can once again see some of the world’s big names, and with the tournament played on a hard court, it really is anybody’s guess as to who will claim gold.

French Open
The French Open will return to its rightful place in the sporting calendar next year after Nadal continued his dominance in the tournament just a few weeks ago.

Naturally all eyes will be on him to claim his 14th title, but at the age of 34, will he start to slow down? Perhaps not on the clay just yet and he’ll be the one to beat, with it likely few will be able to.

In the women’s singles, we saw a remarkable run from 19-year-old Iga Swiatek who has a very bright future ahead of her and she’ll be worth keeping a close eye on throughout 2021 in the Grand Slams, alongside Coco Gauff who continues to be progressing and knocking out some major stars.

Interestingly, the bookmakers have got Swiatek as favorite in this event, while the experience of Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza and Naomi Osaka may be better suited this time around.