The preparatory competitions for the Australian Open were able to resume on Friday, February 5, in Melbourne, after the Covid-19 tests of all players and accredited members came back negative. The tournament had been suspended following the detection of a case of Covid-19 in a hotel.
A total of 507 people had to undergo the tests and were forced to isolate themselves in a hotel room while they received the results. The program for the next few days promises to be very busy with formats adapted to make up for lost time.
AO update: All tests conducted on AO quarantine participants yesterday have returned negative results. #AusOpen https://t.co/H888A7F3mS
Despite the setback, Open director Australian Greg Tiley said he was confident about the attendance of spectators at the Australian Open, which is due to start on Monday, February 8. “Spectators will still be allowed to be on the site, and we continue to sell tickets”, he said. “The site will be an extremely safe place”, promised Greg Tiley, with “Controls, contact tracing, physical distancing”.
Regarding the adjustments, all the singles matches of the three WTA 500 tournaments are cut short by a super tie-break in ten winning points in the possible 3e set. On the men’s side, no change of format announced, but all 8es and the quarterfinals of the two ATP 250 tournaments will be played on Friday alone. There is no change announced for the ATP Cup.
“A very hard mental test” for the players
The matches had to be canceled on Thursday after an employee of the Grand Hyatt hotel, where players and accredited persons had carried out their fourteen-day isolation, had contracted Covid-19 the day before. They all had to undergo a new test and isolate themselves again, awaiting their results.
Upon reception, several players shared their relief on social media. “After a negative result, it is good to go to the gym”, commented the French Caroline Garcia. “Negative and free again …”, welcomes Fabio Fognini, on a selfie in the street. According to Jim Courrier, former world No. 1 and consultant for Tennis Channel, this episode will further strain the minds of players. “They’ve already spent a lot of psychic energy trying to get into the right mental state. Some have told me that they don’t have much left. So it’s going to be a very hard mental test ”, he stressed.
Australia has resumed a relatively normal life, with the exception of one-off and localized confinements. It is even one of the few countries in the world that can afford to allow the public to attend sporting events. Between 25,000 and 30,000 spectators are expected to attend the Australian Open matches. Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews on Wednesday night ruled the tournament should not be shaken up, but state opposition leader Tory Michael O’Brien called for a ruling within forty-eight hours.
