The tournament returned to the Winter Gardens, from 17 to 25 July 2021, with the 2020 staging of the event having been moved to the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dimitri Van den Bergh was the defending champion, after beating Gary Anderson 18–10 in the 2020 final.

The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit at the cut-off point on 10 July were seeded for the tournament.

The top 16 players on the ProTour Order of Merit, not to have already qualified on the cut-off date were unseeded.

[4] Mensur Suljović originally qualified through the ProTour Order of Merit, but withdrew for medical reasons.