The 2021 San Diego Open was a men's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

tournament played on outdoor

hard court A hardcourt (or hard court) is a type of surface or floor on which a sport is played, most usually in reference to tennis courts. It is typically made of rigid materials such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, and covered with acrylic resin ...

s. It was the 1st edition of the

San Diego Open There are three sporting events named the San Diego Open: * San Diego Open (golf) now known as the Farmers Insurance Open, is a PGA Tour professional golf tournament played in La Jolla, San Diego, California, United States * San Diego Open (tennis) ...

, and part of the

ATP Tour 250 The ATP 250 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 250'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series'', and ''ATP World Series'') are the lowest tier of annual men's tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam (t ...

series of the

2021 ATP Tour The 2021 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2021 tennis season. The 2021 ATP Tour calendar comprised the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by the I ...

. It was held at the Barnes Tennis Center in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, United States, from September 27 until October 3, 2021. It was primarily organized due to the cancellation of Asian tournaments during the 2021 season, because of the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Positioned one week before the 1000

Indian Wells Masters The BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California, United States. It is played on outdoor hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and is held in March. The tournament is pa ...

and only a 2-hour 30 min drive from Indian Wells, the

attracted a very strong line up of players including

Denis Shapovalov Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...

Andrey Rublev Andrey Andreyevich Rublev (; born 20 October 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 5 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in September 2021 ...

Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov Dimitrov (, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Bulgari ...

and

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

. With 8 of the top 20 players attending and the ranking cut off being 42 to get into the main draw it was the second most competitive ATP 250 all season since

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

. Daniel Vallverdu took on the position of managing director, Ryan Redondo was named the tournament director and

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

accepted the role of honorary tournament chair.

Finals

Singles

Casper Ruud Casper Ruud (; born 22 December 1998) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 2 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in September 2022, making him t ...

defeated

Cameron Norrie Cameron Norrie (; born 23 August 1995) is a British professional tennis player. He has reached career-high ATP Rankings, rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 12 September 2022) and No. 117 in doubles (on 13 June 2022). Norrie has won five ATP ...

, 6–0, 6–2 * It was Ruud's 5th and last singles title of the year and the 6th of his

career A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work (human activity), work and other aspects of personal life, life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ...

Doubles

Joe Salisbury Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open and the 2021, 2022 and 2023 US Opens in men's do ...

Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1. He achieved this milestone in November 2022, topping the rankings jointly with long-ti ...

defeated

John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He reached a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 2 on 3 April 2017, and a singles ranking of No. 456 in June 2012. He has ...

Filip Polášek Filip Polášek (; born 21 July 1985) is an inactive Slovak professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his highest doubles ranking of world No. 7 in February 2020, and has won 17 titles on the ATP Tour. He was forced to re ...

, 7–6^(7–2), 3–6, 0–5

Singles main-draw entrants

Seeds

*¹ Rankings are as of 20 September 2021.Kyrgios, Bridgeworthy: Top Tennis Pros Slated for San Diego Open
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Other entrants

The following players received wildcards into the main draw: *

Brandon Nakashima Brandon Nakashima (born August 3, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 29 in singles by the ATP, which he achieved on 5 May 2025. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of No. 240 on 10 Jun ...

*
Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...
The following player received entry as a special exempt: *
Kwon Soon-woo Kwon Soon-woo (; born 2 December 1997) is a South Korean professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 52 ranking by the ATP, achieved in November 2021 and a doubles ranking of world No. 224, attained in December 2022. ...
The following players received entry from the qualifying draw: *

Alex Bolt Alex Bolt (born 5 January 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. He plays mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour. His career-high rankings by the ATP are world No. 125 in singles and world No. 81 in doubles. Highlights of his career inc ...

Salvatore Caruso Salvatore Caruso (; born 15 December 1992) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 76 achieved on 16 November 2020. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of No. 166 achieved on 18 ...

Christopher Eubanks Christopher Eubanks ( ; born May 5, 1996) is an American professional tennis player. He played college tennis for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's tennis, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There, he was a two-time All-American and twice named A ...

Federico Gaio Federico Gaio (; born 5 March 1992) is an Italian professional tennis player. He competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ITF circuit. He has won four Challenger titles and nine ITF futures singles titles. He reached his career high A ...

The following players received entry as lucky losers: * Kevin Anderson * August Holmgren *

Denis Kudla Denis Kudla ( ; born August 17, 1992) is an American tennis coach and former professional player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 53, achieved in May 2016. He had a career-high doubles ranking of No. 133, achieved in Aug ...

Withdrawals

;Before the tournament *

Félix Auger-Aliassime Felix Auger-Aliassime (; born August 8, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of No. 6, which he achieved on November 7, 2022, making him the second-highest-ranked Canadian man in ATP rankings histor ...

→ replaced by August Holmgren *

Cristian Garín Cristian Ignacio Garín Medone (; born 30 May 1996) is a Chilean professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 17 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 13 September 2021. He ...

→ replaced by

Dominik Koepfer Dominik Koepfer (born 29 April 1994), also spelled Köpfer, is a German professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 49 on 4 March 2024, and a doubles ranking of No. 69 on 24 June 2024. He played college ...

David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...

→ replaced by

Sebastian Korda Sebastian Korda ( ; born July 5, 2000) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 15 achieved on August 12, 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 46 reached o ...

Kwon Soon-woo Kwon Soon-woo (; born 2 December 1997) is a South Korean professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 52 ranking by the ATP, achieved in November 2021 and a doubles ranking of world No. 224, attained in December 2022. ...

→ replaced by Kevin Anderson *

Dušan Lajović Dušan Lajović ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Лајовић; born 30 June 1990) is a Serbian professional tennis player. On 29 April 2019, he reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 23. On 21 September 2020, he peaked at No. 82 in the doubl ...

→ replaced by Lloyd Harris *

Kei Nishikori is a Japanese professional tennis player. He is the only Japanese man in the Open Era to have been ranked in the top five in singles, reaching his career-high ranking of world No. 4 in March 2015, and the second man in history to do so after ...

→ replaced by

Reilly Opelka Reilly Opelka (born 28 August 1997) is an American professional tennis player. At , he is tied (with Ivo Karlović) for the tallest-ever Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over . He has be ...

→ replaced by

Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 on 9 May 2016. He also reached a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 on 22 July 2019. ...

Doubles main-draw entrants

Seeds

*¹ Rankings are as of 20 September 2021.

Other entrants

The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw: *

Sem Verbeek Sem Verbeek (born 12 April 1994) is a Dutch tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 29 achieved on 19 May 2025. He is the current No. 1 Dutch doubles player. He also has a career-high in si ...

Antonio Šančić Antonio Šančić (born 23 November 1988) is a Slovenia-born former professional Croatian tennis player and coach.Radio Samob ...

Artem Sitak Artem Yurievich Sitak ( ; ; born 8 February 1986) is a Russian-born New Zealand former professional tennis player. On 11 August 2008, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 299, whilst his highest doubles ranking of Wo ...

Withdrawals

;Before the tournament *

Nicholas Monroe Benjamin Nicholas Monroe (born April 12, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. Monroe was a doubles specialist. He reached a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 30 on 2 October 2017 and won four ATP Tour doubles titles and t ...

Frances Tiafoe Frances Tiafoe Jr. ( ; born January 20, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. He reached his career high at world No. 10 in singles on June 19, 2023, becoming the first Sierra Leonean American man to be ranked in the top 10 by the ...

→ replaced by

Rajeev Ram Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Ram is a six-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian O ...

Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American former professional tennis doubles and a current pickleball player. He won four career singles titles and 17 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, and had career-high tennis rankings of world No. 8 ...

→ replaced by Jordan Thompson /

Jackson Withrow Jackson Withrow (born July 7, 1993) is an American professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. Withrow has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 16 achieved on 19 February 2024. Withrow has won 10 ATP doubles titles. Career ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Diego Open 2021 ATP Tour Tennis tournaments in the United States September 2021 sports events in the United States October 2021 sports events in the United States 2021 in American tennis