It has been confirmed that the qualifying event for the upcoming Australian Open will be held in another country, according to a plan issued by Tennis Australia on December 3rd.
In a document titled ‘quarantine information’ it is hoped the tournament will take place prior to January 15th when players are expected to start arriving in the country to start their 14-day quarantine. The location of the event is still to be confirmed but those who qualify for the Grand Slam will fly to Australia on flights arranged by the national tennis association. Furthermore, those who are unsuccessful in their bids will be allowed to reclaim their costs of applying for an Australian visa.
Due to the mandatory quarantine period, it has been confirmed that the Australian Open will start later than planned with the most likely start date being February 8th. Tennis Australia has also proposed to hold two WTA and ATP events prior to the major, followed by another WTA tournament after. All of which are subject to approval from the governing bodies.
The bio-secure bubble, which is what players will be kept in during quarantine, is expected to cost up to AUS$100 million which is $20 million more than Tennis Australia’s reserves. Nevertheless, they have committed to keeping the $71 million prize money pool for the Australian Open but with a revision in how it is allocated. More money will go into the qualifying and early rounds.
In total the government has allowed 1000 people to enter the country in relation to the sport. Players have been told to bring only ‘essential player support staff’ and will have to seek government approval if they want to bring a family member or non-essential member of their team.
Implications of a positive COVID-19 test
One intriguing rule being taken is that should a member of a players team test positive for COVID-19 they will all be treated as positive tests. Hypothetically meaning somebody could be removed from a tournament if their coach contracts the virus and not them. In this scenario players will have to go through another 14-day quarantine process from the day of the positive test.
Tennis Australia has also implemented guidance concerning what to do with the possibility of a false positive test. Something that happened on the Tour earlier this year with Benoit Paire. After testing positive, players will be allowed to have a second test. Although the final decision will be down to the Victorian Department of Health and the Chief Health Officer. Interestingly all hitting partners will be classed as ‘close contacts’ of players.
Specifically for the Australian Open if a player tests positive for COVID-19 after the official draw but before the first round they will still receive 50% of the prize money. If they test positive during the tournament they will still receive the same amount of points and prize money as normal.
Players will undertake nasopharyngealPCR and saliva tests during days one, three, seven, 10 and 14 of their quarantine.
It is possible that some of these rules could change in the coming days due to the fluidity of the pandemic. The ATP and WTA are yet to publicly back these measures.
