The head of the Australian Open has said he believes some stars of the sport will choose to skip the two upcoming Grand Slam events and instead switch their focus to the 2021 season.
Craig Tiley said during an interview with The Age newspaper that he has spoken to various players who are looking to next year as ‘the new hope’ for the sport. The ATP and WTA Tour’s are set to restart in August after a five-month break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the break, tennis’ governing bodies have been forced to adjust their schedules with some of those tournaments that have been confirmed still in doubt.
Amid the uncertainty, Tiley has claimed that some may travel to Australia as early as November in order to prepare for the start of next year. Out of the top 20 players on the men’s and women’s Tour’s, Roger Federer is the only one to have ruled himself out of playing again this year. Although his reason is due to recovering from knee surgery.
“Most of them – Roger Federer included – is not playing the rest of the year and is looking to the Australian Open to launch 2021,” Tiley told The Age.
“In fact all of them I’ve spoken to – there’s not one that hasn’t – are looking to the beginning of 2021 and the beginning of the new season as the new hope for tennis globally.
“I personally think that some of the top players will be in doubt [for the rest of 2020] and that’s simply because they may feel it’s too soon. It’s nothing against the US Open.”
The claim comes amid speculation surrounding the upcoming US events that are set to take place next month. This week it has emerged that the Citi Open in Washington could be axed due to the ongoing travel restrictions. Should that happen, it may have a domino effect on other events including the premier US Open. Furthermore, there are also doubts surrounding China and if they will hold any international sporting events that are not related to Olympic qualifying. Something that has been recommended by an official government report.
Various players have already voiced their reservations about travelling to America and risking the possibility of having to be quarantined during the process. Something that would affect their preparations for the European clay-court swing. Both Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep have said they are undecided. Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina recently told btu.org.ua her current plan is to return to competitive tennis after the US Open.
Australian Open fears
There are also questions about the Australian Open that will take place in January. Melbourne, which is where the tournament is played, recently introduced a compulsory mask policy to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The city has been placed under local lockdown for a second time.
Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria where there are currently 3147 active COVID-19 cases as of July 21st, according to figures published by 9 News. It has been suggested that should the situation not improve in the coming weeks, the Australian Open could be moved elsewhere. However, Tiley has come out against this motion.
“It hasn’t even crossed my mind,” he said.
“Heaven and earth will be moved to make it work in Melbourne. I don’t see any scenario possible where the Australian Open would move.”
Elaborating further, Tiley argues that Melbourne Park could operate as a ‘world-leading” quarantine venue for players to play safely.
“Melbourne Park itself is a massive quarantine opportunity for us,” he insists.
“The whole network and the whole hub being put next to the city, you can actually create a bubble over Melbourne Park to make it extremely safe. It will be world-leading.”
Sofia Kenin and Novak Djokovic are the current Australian Open champions.
