The organisers of the Australian Open have revealed details of their plans for next year’s event with the wide expectation being a substantial cut in visitors to Melbourne Park.
Tournament director Craig Tiley has shed light on the event amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought the sport to a standstill since March 9th. Under the current plan officials are expecting half the amount of visitors to be allowed to attend the main show court, which has a capacity of more than 14,000. Exact details on numbers could vary in the coming months depending on the COVID-19 case levels. Furthermore, it is doubtful that foreign visitors will be allowed to attend the event. Last year, more than 100,000 people visited the tournament from outside of Australia.
“We made that decision this week, to go with that scenario from a number of options,” Tiley told The Associated Press.
“We will not hit the numbers we had last year, a record 821,000 through the gates. Our fans will be from Melbourne and Victoria state, interstate, as well as potentially New Zealanders, if they lift border restrictions. But the 15% we get from overseas will likely not be here.”
Victoria, which is the state the Australian Open is held in, reported 10 deaths related to COVID-19 on Sunday in what is their highest daily toll to date. Overall, there are 459 new infections in what is the 21st consecutive day the figures have been increased in three digits, according to data published by The Guardian. Greater Melbourne, which has a population of roughly five million people, is currently in a lockdown
Despite the concerns Tiley had previously stated that he has no intention of relocating the Grand Slam to another part of the country. Instead, he is hoping to learn lessons from both the US Open and French Open, which will get underway later this year. In New York, their event will be held behind closed doors for the first time in history with players being placed under restrictions such as where they can stay and go to.
“They are both exploring mandatory testing, varying levels of quarantine and limited entourages,” he said. “Of course we are looking at all these options, and more, as part of our scenario planning.”
“If conditions improve and the US Open and French Open goes well and they have positive events, it will build the confidence of the players and help us here in Melbourne next year.”
The Australian Open is set to get underway on January 18th next year. Novak Djokovic and Sofia Kenin are the reigning champions.
