Virus disrupts players' plans for season start
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NEW YORK • Figuring out where and how to start the tennis season is usually pretty easy for the world's top players.
They catch a flight to Australia around Christmas, spend a few days getting over the jet lag, then compete for two weeks in warm-up tournaments ahead of the Australian Open.
But with the sport's calendar upended by the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted a three-week delay of the Australian Open, players have had to make difficult calculations about the value of travelling to compete now, as infection rates are still soaring in many parts of the world.
As the 2021 season began last week, several top players opted not to attend the only opening tournaments before they have to quarantine for two weeks in Australia.
This year, they cannot simply show up in Australia and compete right away. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and second-ranked Rafael Nadal remained on their practice courts rather than venturing to Turkey or Florida for the first events on their ATP Tour.
Andy Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner, was supposed to play in Florida, then grew skittish about travelling during the pandemic and pulled out.
On the women's side, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka skipped the ongoing event in Abu Dhabi.
The plans for those three tournaments were announced only late last month, as the organisers of the Australian Open decided that the start of their Grand Slam event would be delayed until Feb 8 and that all participants would be required to heavily restrict their movements for two weeks ahead of the hard-court Major.
"For a lot of players, since it was sprung on them a bit last minute, they were not ready and didn't want to compete," said Britain's Cameron Norrie, who opted to play in Florida at the Delray Beach Open.
The schedule follows an off-season that, for most players, was longer than the usual six-week break. The pandemic forced the WTA Tour to cancel its fall Asia swing.
On the men's side, for all but the top players, there has not been a tournament since early November.
Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, who is through to the quarter-finals in Abu Dhabi, believes she needs to play more matches in order to get into a rhythm and prepare herself for the rigours of the Australian Open.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
For most top players, the decision to play or not to play in the warm-up events ultimately came down to whether they thought playing real matches now would help them get mentally and physically prepared for the Slam.
"I need some time to get back into rhythm and play more matches," said Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who reached the last eight in Abu Dhabi after beating Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-4 yesterday.
The open question for her and other players is how their individual choices during the first weeks of the season might play into the unusual routines for this Australian Open.
During the quarantine, players will be allowed to practise for only two hours each day, initially with just one practice partner and then with two more in the second week.
They will also get to spend about two hours in the gym, and one other hour at the tennis centre in Melbourne, but must spend the 19 other hours in their hotel rooms.
After the quarantine, the men's and women's tours will hold three competitive events in Melbourne in the week before the Open.
Craig Morris, a former coach for Australian Samantha Stosur, said that given how little tennis took place last year, extra competition this month could be valuable.
"Anything they can get under the belt is going to help," he said.
NYTIMES
