Cloud over Aussie events amid surge

MELBOURNE • The Victoria state government is confident the Australian Open will go ahead, but offered no assurances yesterday that players would be allowed to arrive in time for the season-opening ATP Cup and other events in January.

The ATP Tour told players on Tuesday that the start of the next season remained up in the air due to "challenges" in Australia, which is effectively closed to international arrivals due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tennis Australia (TA) planned for players and their entourages to arrive in Victoria next month to have time to undertake a mandatory two-week quarantine period before competing in January.

But Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews questioned whether players needed to arrive so early and said that the state government was still working with TA on quarantine arrangements.

According to the Tennis Channel, the authorities will not allow players to arrive in the middle of next month and the BBC corroborated that report, with the decision "unlikely to change".

"(Tennis Australia) are working (with) all of their partners and we're confident that we'll finish up with an Australian Open," Andrews told reporters. "Whether (players) need to be here in December is the other issue.

"I don't know if that necessarily means there isn't an Australian Open."

The Australian Open is scheduled to start on Jan 18 at Melbourne Park, but dates for the team-based ATP Cup and other events that lead into the year's first Grand Slam have yet to be fixed.

Earlier this week, top-ranked Novak Djokovic said he did not know if he would be able to lead Serbia's title defence at the ATP Cup.

The ATP said it was working "as hard as possible" to deliver the calendar of events.

TA declined to comment but chief executive Craig Tiley told local media earlier this week that the governing body had decided to shift the ATP Cup and all other domestic tournaments to Victoria in January to mitigate the risk of logistical issues arising from Covid-19 protocols.

However, his plans have since been given short shrift by Mr Andrews, who said his government had not even signed off on the Slam, let alone allowing players to practise while in quarantine.

According to the BBC, the hard-court Major could be delayed by a week or two to allow for the warm-up events to go ahead as planned, although that will result in a scheduling conflict with other tournaments in February.

Australia has largely brought Covid-19 to heel, with Victoria recording no new cases for nearly three weeks, but a fresh outbreak in Adelaide has alarmed officials.

World No. 2 Rafa Nadal feels arriving later in Australia would not be a "big difference" as long as players can train while in quarantine.

"The only negative thing is we have to be there like 16 days in advance (of competing)," he told reporters at the ATP Finals on Tuesday.

REUTERS