Australian Open ‘most likely’ to be delayed by a week, but details yet to be finalised

The Australian Open tennis tournament will “most likely” be delayed by a week, according to Victoria’s Sport and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula.

The Victorian Government has been in discussions with Tennis Australia and representatives from the ATP and WTA about how to hold the event, scheduled to start on January 18, under current coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Pakula said the details were yet to be finalised, but he believed there would be a short rather than a long delay to the start of the tournament.

“I think that’s most likely, but it’s not the only option,” he said.

Mr Pakula also revealed that tennis players had been encouraged to keep their entourages small, but there were no set rules at this stage for the number of support people each player would be allowed to bring.

“It’s fair to say that Tennis Australia and the playing group have been encouraged to keep the total number of people coming in, not necessarily to a minimum, but to a lower number than would otherwise be the case.

“People need to bear in mind that there will be an extremely rigorous testing regime that will apply to the tennis players both before they leave the port that they’re coming from and when they arrive, and I would imagine consistently during the time that they’re in their bubble.”

Fears the tournament ‘could be dangerous’ for players if they can’t prepare

Details of the quarantine arrangements for players are still to be revealed, but world number 4 Daniil Medvedev has already expressed reservations.

He told CNN some players may choose not to come to Australia if they were forced to spend two weeks in hotel quarantine, with limited time to play and practise before the tournament starts.

“I’m not complaining that it’s boring or something like this, it’s just that going out from the room after 14 days of not doing anything and then playing five sets right away, I think would be really dangerous for the health of any sportsman,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s going to be possible for anybody to go there if they will need to stay in the room for 14 days.”