The date for the kickoff of Tennis Grand Slam event, Australian Open has been announced. The first tennis Grand Slam tournament of the year, will kick off in February 8th 2021.
The news was shared by Tennis Australia Chief Executive Officer, Craig Tiley to all tennis players, Tennis.com reports.
The report which quoted The Age, stated that the season’s first Grand Slam tournament, currently scheduled to begin on January 18, will instead commence three weeks later on February 8.
The Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, has maintained that updated information about the Australian Open will be released imminently, with this report being the strongest signal yet.
Some of the details include:
—Players will arrive in Melbourne between January 15 and January 17, on chartered flights paid for by Tennis Australia, with a mandated 14-day quarantine beginning only after the last player arrives.
Players can train during the quarantine, with only one other player, if they receive a negative COVID-19 test on the second day of the quarantine. They can train with a maximum of four players/coaches after receiving a third negative test on the eighth day of quarantine.
—In total, each player will be tested five times during the quarantine period, on days 1, 3, 7, 10 and 14.
—Players may only leave their hotels for a maximum of five hours per day—up to two hours on a court, up to two hours in a gym, and up to one hour eating at the tournament site. Player travel is restricted to Melbourne Park and the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre.
—Players may only bring one coach; Tennis Australia will also pick up the cost of entourage travel and accommodation.
The tournament will pay full prize money, with the possible redistribution of earnings to increase early-round purses.
There was no additional indication given about fan capacity.
“A February 1 start date would not have allowed any matches [health authorities rules out matches in the bubble] and also would have been unfair to players who may get infected during quarantine—as it would’ve ruled them out of the AO,” Tiley said in the player note, according to The Age.