The Australian Open Could Be Postponed Until March Or April

The Australian Open could be postponed until March or April because the Victorian government won’t permit players to arrive in Melbourne – and start a mandatory two-week quarantine period – until the start of January, according to The Age in Australia.

The first Grand Slam of 2021 is set to run from Jan. 17-31, but players need enough time after the quarantine to prepare for the event.

“Tournament planning is in chaos but meetings between organisers and the state government in the next 72 hours aim to finalise the timing,” according to The Age.

As many as 1,000 foreigners, including players, coaches, trainers and media, are expected for the event, complicating matters in the age of COVID-19.

“From the seventh of next month we can have flights returning to Melbourne and a hotel quarantining system will be reset and set up at that point and this is not a simple thing, to have many hundreds or indeed potentially well more than 1000 athletes and others who support them, media, being here for a very important event,” Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said. “It has to be done safely, it has to be done right.

‘‘I am very confident we will have an Australian Open in the early part of next year. The exact timing of it, the exact arrangements we put in place, they are not settled yet.’’

On the court, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are both expected to play the Australian Open after injuries in 2020. Federer has not played since the early part of 2020 due to knee surgeries, while Serena pulled out of the French Open in October with an Achilles injury. She remains one major shy of Australian Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has won eight of his 17 career Grand Slam titles Down Under, including the last two, and remains three behind Federer and Rafael Nadal on the all-time men’s list. Former world No. 1s Andy Roddick and Jim Courier both said Djokovic is the favorite to finish as the GOAT of men’s tennis.

Tennis Australia announced the postponement of the junior events at the Open.

“Australia has had relatively few cases of COVID-19 … and this has been achieved through strict biosecurity measures which include limiting international travellers into Australia, and mandatory 14-day quarantine for all international arrivals,” according to a letter from Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley and Australian Open juniors tournament director Francis Soyer.

“These limits along with the increased biosecurity requirements have unfortunately made it extremely difficult for us to run a junior event at the 2021 Australian Open.”