Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley reveals players could compete with COVID at Melbourne Park this year. Before and during this year’s Australian Open, players won’t be required to take COVID tests. The same was the case in some other Grand Slams last year as it was up to the players to decide what to do when feeling unwell.
“We’ve made it clear to our players, as well as our over 12,000 staff. We ask, if anyone is feeling unwell, stay home. It’s a normalised environment for us and, not dissimilar to the cricket, there will potentially be players that will compete with COVID, we just wanted to follow what’s currently in the community.
We’ve made it clear to our players, as well as our staff, if anyone is feeling unwell, stay home. It’s a normalised environment for us and, not dissimilar to the cricket, there will potentially be players that will compete with COVID,” Tiley said, per Reuters.
Tiley slams a report from the Australian media
In an article published on NewsCorp, it was suggested that Tennis Australia should explore rescheduling the Australian Open. Also in the article, February and October were mentioned as the dates for the Australian Open since the tournament would then avoid the worst heat.
Tiley described the article as “bizarre” as he feels that the Australian Open is the tournament that is known to kickstart tennis season. “I did read that, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous – a bizarre claim.
You talk to every player, this is the season. It starts in January. It starts here in Australia,” Tiley said. Meanwhile, the Australian Open suffered two big blows late last week. On Friday, world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz announced his withdrawal from the Australian Open.
Two days later, two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka also decided to withdraw from the Australian Open. But there is one very positive thing for the Australian Open – Djokovic is returning to action at Melbourne Park.
