Tournament Director: ‘Australian Open 2021 without foreign fans’ | Right away

The Australian Open will end in 2021 without foreign spectators. That’s what Craig Tiley, director of the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne, says in an interview with Australian Associated Press.

“Our worst-case scenario is that there is no Australian Open,” Tiley said. “At the moment, the best scenario is a tournament with players in quarantine and only fans from Australia.”

No games and tournaments will take place until at least mid-July due to the world-class outbreak of the coronavirus. In addition, a large part of the tennis calendar has already been adapted.

Wimbledon was cancelled and Roland Garros postponed until September. The US Open, which begins in August, is expected to decide whether to play the tournament next month.

Australian Open is well prepared

According to Tiley, next year’s Australian Open will not be missed, and all sorts of scenarios have already been worked out. “We’ve looked at when to make decisions, who to influence and how,” he says.

“We have done this for all 670 employees, for our partners, our sponsors and all the governments and locations we are dealing with. We’re still in the process of informing the players and explaining what it means to them.”

The Australian Open could take place in January this year, despite the tournament being plagued by severe bushfires in Australia. In the men’s event, Novak Djokovic won the women’s event. During the 14 days of the tournament, more than 800,000 people visited Melbourne Park.

In Australia, the effects of coronavirus are still relatively small. So far, there have been around 7,000 infections. The death toll stands at 97.

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