The head of the Australian Open has revealed plans for a series of ‘bio-secure bubbles’ which will protect players and enable them to travel to the country without having to go through quarantine.
Craig Tiley says he is optimistic that the Grand Slam will go ahead as scheduled despite the current rise of COVID-19 cases in the state of Victoria where the tournament is held. On Wednesday morning the regional government announced a record 21 deaths within 24 hours, as well as 410 new cases. On August 2nd metropolitan Melbourne was placed into a six-week lockdown.
Speaking to Reuters, Tiley said officials plan to implement a total of five bubbles across the country which players will be based in. A similar concept to what will be used later this month at the US Open. It is unclear as to what the exact conditions will be but they will be opened from the end of December onwards.
“We’re going to open our bio bubble from the first of December and players can come at any time,” he told Reuters.
“When the players arrive, our expectation is they’re not going to be in a hotel for 14 days like the current requirements are. We’ll have an exemption within this bio-secure bubble.
“We’ve said every year that we’re the ‘happy slam’. But now we’re saying we’re the ‘very safe and happy slam.’
The bubbles will be based in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne with its aim being to allow players to get used to conditions in the region.
There are still some unanswered questions when it comes to the tournaments taking place in the lead up to the Australian Open and how the players will remain in these bubbles. For example, this year’s inaugural ATP Cup took place across three cities in the country with players having to travel between them.
Rebranding his event as the ‘very safe and happy slam,’ Tiley says he is optimistic that up to 400,000 fans would be able to attend. Working out as roughly half the attendance compared to this year. Although he does have various scenarios in place which includes the possibility of holding the Australian Open behind closed doors for the first time in history.
“We’ve established a strategy and an operational plan for all our fans and how they will be positioned around the site,” he said.
There are also no plans for a reduction in prize money next year, despite the negative economic impact caused by the pandemic. It is estimated that Tennis Australia will have their turnover and revenue drop by a double-digit percentage.
“I’m optimistic and positive that we’ll have an event and it’ll be in Melbourne,” said Tiley.
“It will have some crowds and it’ll be the beginning of kind of getting back to the way we were.”
The 2021 Australian Open is set to get underway next January.
