ZCZC
BSP-02
TENNIS-AUS-OPEN
Djokovic, Nadal, Serena to quarantine in Adelaide, not Melbourne
SYDNEY, Jan 9, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Tennis’ top stars will quarantine in
Adelaide rather than Melbourne and play an exhibition there ahead of the
Australian Open, with the city also hosting a WTA event after the years’
first Grand Slam, organisers said Saturday.
Some 1,270 players and support staff are due to arrive in Melbourne on
charter flights late next week, where they will have to spend a mandatory 14
days in quarantine.
But with hotel rooms in the city scarce, Australian Open chief Craig Tiley
said he had approached the South Australian government about taking some of
them.
Matters were further complicated when a hotel in Melbourne that was due to
accommodate players pulled out on Tuesday, reportedly because of concerns
from residents.
With little benefit to Adelaide from putting its community at risk of
coronavirus by housing players, an exhibition featuring the top names in the
game was suggested as an enticement.
“It would be a benefit if they played an exhibition tournament just before
they came to Melbourne, so the premier (Steven Marshall) has agreed to host
50 people in a quarantine bubble and then have those players play an
exhibition,” Tiley told Tennis Channel.
An official statement announcing the January 29 exhibition said it would
feature the world’s top three men — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Dominic
Thiem — and two of the top three women in Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka.
World number one Ashleigh Barty was not included, but 23-time Grand Slam
winner Serena Williams was, with two more players to be added to the field.
“The conditions of the quarantine will be the same (as Melbourne),” said
Tiley, with players only allowed out of their rooms for five hours to
practise and train in a bio-secure bubble.
“They’ll be in a different hotel and a smaller cohort and travel direct to
Adelaide. We think this is a great opportunity to actually launch before we
go into the season.”
They would then head to Melbourne Park for the 12-team ATP Cup, along with
two WTA tournaments and two ATP events being played from January 31 ahead of
the Australian Open on February 8.
Organisers also announced an extra WTA 500 tournament in Adelaide after
the Australian Open, from February 22-27 with 70 players taking part.
Australia has largely contained the coronavirus, although fresh outbreaks
have forced authorities to reintroduce some restrictions, including a
lockdown in Brisbane.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0851 hrs