Australian Open 2021 without international fans?
The Australian tennis association is currently playing through all sorts of scenarios for next year's first Grand Slam tournament. One of these would be the exclusive event with local fans.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: May 07, 2020, 06:54 am
If you wanted to get a picture of the innumerable comments made by the ATP or WTA professionals on Instagram during the past week, the very first result would come to light: The favorite tournament for most women and men is the Australian Open. And what applies to tennis players, of course, applies even more to fans: Melbourne is always worth a visit at the end of January.
This could not happen in the coming year, however, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Wednesday. Because one of the scenarios that Tennis Australia and their boss Craig Tiley are dealing with would be to allow all international players and their coaches to enter the first major of 2021. But not the tennis fans.
Many Serbian emigrants to Australia
The worst scenario, according to Tiley, is a cancellation of the event. The best thing right now would be to get international professionals to Australia under quarantine conditions - but only allow local fans in the stands. Which doesn't necessarily mean that the full support would only be given to Ashleigh Barty or Nick Kyrgios. Rather, the Serbian emigrants rocked the stadiums at the ATP Cup at the beginning of 2020, and the Greek colony was also generally noisy at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic is the defending champion in the next major down under, Sofia Kenin won her first Grand Slam title at the beginning of the year.
"We have to look at the problem from all angles," continued Tiley. "Because many decisions will be beyond our control and depend on government policies and restrictions." You have to be prepared for any eventuality.