Organisers of the Liverpool International tennis tournament have pencilled in the 19th staging of the much loved festival - two years after the 18th event was won by the Italian Paolo Lorenzi and the Estonian Kaia Kanepi.
Liverpool Cricket Club will once again stage the multi-national tournament on June 23rd to 26th, again as a curtain raiser to the Wimbledon Championships which are scheduled to start on Monday, June 28.
Tournament organiser Anders Borg, who has attracted some of the most famous names in the sport to Merseyside since World No.1 Marat Safin won the inaugural tournament in 2002, said: "We are so pleased to announce the launch of the 2021 Liverpool International tennis Tournament."
And he insists that the June 23 launch date, just 48 hours after Prime Minster Boris Johnson's plans to lift all Covid restrictions in England, is just coincidence.
"Those were always going to be our chosen dates because we are always the week before Wimbledon, so we haven't had to move anything, it's just hopefully good timing for us," he said.
Announcement on players taking part will take place closer to the event, when quarantine rules are clearer, but at present organisers are planning for a 500 capacity event.
"We are outdoors with tennis and at a big space like the cricket club, social distancing won't be a problem so we should definitely be okay.
"Our stands can accommodate a large crowd, so that should make it easier, and we're only putting out a limited number of tickets on general sale for the Thursday and Friday initially, 500 tickets a day, so we are taking it gradually."
The traditional pre-tournament kids day is also still planned.
"We have a dedicated kids-only day on the day before the tournament starts," added Borg "when we normally invite about 1,000 kids from local schools to get a feel for tennis.
"That is partnered by KPMG and the last time we had it in 2019 they brought all their employees from their Liverpool office to help out and teach kids about letters and numbers, mixing it up with the balls and racquets, which was a great day out for everybody."
With so much live sport cancelled in 2020, Anders predicts that this year's tournament will have a very special atmosphere.
"I think because people haven't been out and about for so long that there'll be a big demand for hospitality and the general sale tickets. I definitely can't wait to get back and get this show on the road again and I finally bought a flat in Liverpool last summer which I haven't even seen yet, so that'll be exciting for me too!"
Last summer was the first interruption in the tournament's schedule since it began in 2002, with legends like Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Marat Safin having graced the ATP events - and a Who's Who of tennis superstars ranging from Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe to Virginia Wade and Ilie Nastase, from the two Martinas, Navratilova and Hingis to Greg Rusedski and Richard Krajicek having all played.
VIP hospitality tickets start from £99 and standard tickets from £20 are available from www.liverpooltennis.co.uk
Full refund is available, minus booking fees, should the event get cancelled due to Covid or if there is less than one hour's play on the day.