The Australian Open 2021 has been rescheduled and the new schedule was revealed by the Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the year’s first Grand Slam will begin on February 8, three weeks after its previous scheduled start of January 18.
The decision comes on the back of the pandemic-related issues which meant the tournament couldn’t be started that close to the beginning of the season. Also in question was when can the players start coming into the country, the isolation period and whether they could practice during that quarantine.
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According to a report by News Corp, Tiley, in a communication with the players informed them of this change of date along with updates on the training schedule.
Players will go into quarantine from January 15 for a period of two weeks but they will be allowed to resume their training almost as soon as they land in the country.
In his letter to the players, Tiley said:
“There will be strict conditions, but after quarantine, players are free to stay where they want, go where they want, play lead-in matches and then compete in an AO in front of significant crowds in a great Melbourne atmosphere for the first time in many months.”
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Tennis Australia had earlier proposed to allow the players to fly in in December, undergo the quarantine and then feature in the warmup tournaments in the lead-up to the Australian Open.
This idea, however, had been rejected by state premier Dan Andrews because of the dangers associated with the pandemic.
The two week-quarantine period would mean Tennis Australia could still hold a week of other tournaments, but equally there is a solid chance the ATP Cup, which was hosted for the first time in 2020, could get cancelled.
It also remains to be seen how the tournaments typically planned for February will be rescheduled. There’s a South American swing that’s typically played in February each year on clay, while some of the other tournaments include the ATP Rotterdam and WTA Dubai.