Victoria State Sports Minister Martin Pakula has said the Australian Tennis Open, due to take place in Melbourne from January 18, will likely be postponed for two weeks.
Pakula also indicated that negotiations between various levels of government and tennis officials are drawing to a close. He added that the first grand slam tournament of the season is expected to take place.
Australian Open manager and Tennis Australia general manager Craig Tiley said last weekend that final dates are expected to be announced within two weeks. They usually take place in the last two weeks of January, which coincides with the summer school holidays in Australia.
The state of Victoria has been hit hard by the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, forcing the city of Melbourne to return to lockdown.
In addition to having to impose a curfew and impose travel restrictions between Australian states. However, there are no longer any active cases in its territory, and the last death caused by COVID-19 dates back to October 28.
Pakula declined to say whether the players and those around them will have to undergo a mandatory quarantine period, which could however be reduced to just 10 days.
However, he reiterated that they will have to isolate themselves when entering the country. At this time, all visitors entering Australia must self-isolate for 14 days at their hotel.
Tennis Australia announced that the preparatory tournaments for the Australian Open last week, which include those in Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide, will be moved to the state of Victoria to prevent some players remain stuck in various states because of health restrictions.
Victoria Premier Dan Andrews, however, cast doubt on the presentation of these tournaments and the mandatory quarantine for all these players, saying “we are far from an agreement”.
