The next lockdown, eviction from Center Court and acute financial worries at the Australian Open
Shortly before midnight, the spectators had to leave the Rod Laver Arena. As of Saturday, the ranks will be completely orphaned. The five-day lockdown also affects the organizers financially.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Feb 13, 2021, 11:05 am
It was a depressing, disturbing, but also historical picture that presented itself late on Friday evening in the famous Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. The third-round game of the Australian Open between the front man and the American Taylor Fritz Novak Djokovic was still in full drama, when the fans were politely but very firmly asked to leave the Center Court immediately at 11.30 p.m. The reason for the memorable eviction was the next iron-hard, announced lockdown in the metropolis, which came into force at midnight for the next five days - and which required all residents to be in their own four walls by midnight.
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Shortly before these memorable scenes in Djokovic's tense five-set victory, the tennis fans in the John Cain Arena next door had once again experienced a loud, shrill spectacle like in the old Australian Open times. But the 4: 6, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 and 6: 4 chase by US Open King Dominic Thiem against the ingeniously crazy local hero Nick Kyrgios and against a heated backdrop could possibly be the big emotional climax of the Grand Slam opening tournament of the 2021 season - because the games will continue by special regulation, but at least until next Wednesday no spectators will be admitted to the facility on the Yarra River.
eviction
What comes next, a lockdown extension, but again tennis in front of a very limited number of spectators - nobody knows. "We will continue to work closely with the government to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved," said tournament boss Craig Tiley, who had used all the levers and political contacts in recent months to host the tournament at all. The reason for the most recent lockdown was the outbreak of infection in a quarantine hotel at Tullamarine Airport - there were 13 people with the British corona mutant and some of them were infected with each other.
Tennis rut returns in bubble
For the tennis caravan, the lockdown meant a return to the new normal - life in the so-called bio-bubble. The players would return to a situation "they have known from the last time," said Tiley, "they will only move between the hotel and the facility and have no further contact." For the tournament officials, it was still another setback in theirs desperate efforts to host the major tournament as trouble-free as possible in the challenging overall corona situation - after all, there had already been problems with corona cases on the special charter flights to Australia in the preparation phase. At that time, more than 70 players had to go into a tougher Quran, including ex-number 1 Angelique Kerber. In the week before the Australian Open, the Victoria's government sent around 600 players, officials and officials to rapid tests because a corona case had occurred in the vicinity of the tournament. The Grand Slam event was always far from uniform, fair preparation of all players.
However, the lockdown also exacerbated the financial implications for the Australian Open. Despite the considerable costs for the hygiene concept and the charter flights, the Grand Slam management did not make any cuts in the prize money - probably also to prevent many star and starlet cancellations. But the lockdown is now causing further deep cuts in the budget: After the rather restrained visitor response on the first days of the tournament (the contingent of 30,000 fans was never exhausted), there is now no ticket money from Saturday to Wednesday, estimated at up to 20 million Australian dollars. “There will now be difficult days for everyone,” said tournament co-favorite Serena Williams, “we were just so happy to see spectators in the stands again. It's a shame for the organizers who gave everything for the tournament. "
Zverev hopes for the fans to return
Around five million people are affected by the lockdown in Melbourne. Schools and shops will be closed up to and including Wednesday, restaurants are only allowed to offer delivery services. Residents are only allowed to leave their own apartment for urgent reasons; a mask is required outside of their own four walls. On Friday there was again criticism of the federal government of Victoria and of Prime Minister Dan Andrews, who apparently wanted to bring the Australian Open to an end "at any cost" - the allegations focused on the classification of tennis professionals as "essential workers" (indispensable / essential Employees) and the tournament facility as "workplace."
Germany's number one, Alexander Zverev, expressed the hope after his smooth 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 1 victory over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, “that fans will be there again from next Thursday: “ It just does a lot more Fun. The ghost atmosphere is ugly. ”On Sunday, Zverev will go to his last 16 match against the Serbian Dusan Lajovic without a spectator. Meanwhile, it became known that Andreas Mies from Cologne had to undergo knee surgery, the Rhinelander, who won the French Open in 2019 and 2020 together with Kevin Krawietz, is out for about six months. This also puts the successful duo's participation in the Olympics at risk.