With less than two months to go until the new tennis season begins Tennis Australia is set to make a crucial decision by the end of next week concerning where tournaments will be played in the country.
It is understood that officials are seriously looking into the possibility of hosting all events within the city of Melbourne due to the travel difficulties related to COVID-19. Such a move would have a substantial impact on the ATP Cup which was held across three cities earlier this year. The hopes of the events to be held elsewhere relies on the regional governments and if they are willing to allow the free travel of tennis players between states without having to make them quarantine. Players already have to quarantine for 14 days upon their initial arrival in the country.
“Players will come in the middle of December and it will be two weeks [of quarantine] before the summer, and then they’ll have four-five weeks of being able to play tennis at Melbourne if it’s all the events … if not it will be events in other cities and then the Australian Open,” Tennis Australian boss Craig Tiley told The Age.
A request has also been made for players to be allowed to play events at the same time they are going through quarantine. Although this proposal is yet to receive government approval and Tiley admits himself that he is not ‘banking on’ the idea.
Tiley and his team have presented a complex plan concerning their ‘controlled bubbles’ for when players arrive. Under those rules, they are only allowed to go to and from their hotels and the practice court during their quarantine. Regular testing will also be undertaken.
“The two-week controlled bubble will be a very strict environment,” Tiley states.
“The objectives will be to protect the community, so the players while they’re training will only go from their hotel room to the courts, and then back to the hotel room in a secure protected environment.
“There will obviously be significant testing in that bubble. Our objective will be to make it the safest and securest bubble anywhere in the world.
“Then after two weeks the players can come out and they become members of the community, because they’re negative and they’re not carriers of COVID.”
At present the Australian Open is hoping to allow a limited number of fans to their event. They are currently working on the idea of welcoming 25% of its maximum capacity but this could change in the coming weeks depending on the pandemic.
The Australian Open, which is held at Melbourne Park, is set to start on January 18th.
