In Australia, we do not joke with the precautionary principles to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Melbourne, in particular, the first desire is above all not to re-import a virus that has not been circulating for several weeks.
The government of Victoria still has the will to organize the tournament and is considering how best to accommodate the tour caravan to avoid cluster risks.
In a document sent by the Australian Federation to all bodies (ATP, WTA and ITF) and obtained by the
Team
, we learn that the local government would require that all the players and their staffs arrive in Melbourne only between January 15 and 17 to carry out a quarantine "under bubble" which would last for all until January 31 .
It therefore now seems certain that the 2021 Australian Open will not take place from January 18 to 31, its original date.
The tournament would be played from February 8 to 21 and some ATP and WTA tournaments could be held the previous week.
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The health standards that will govern the smooth running of the first Grand Slam of the year have not yet been formalized and no agreement has yet been found.
One certainty, Tennis Australia, in collaboration with the State of Victoria, demands a very strict protocol from actors and actresses.
The document states that they would only be allowed to be out of their rooms for 5 hours a day and the 5 hours of "freedom" would be devoted exclusively to time spent on the court, or in the gym, or in the gym. care, only at the tournament site in Melbourne Park.
The inevitable tests would take place for every 1st, 3rd, 7th, 10th and 14th days of their stays.
After this quarantine of 14 days, the players and their staff could however move freely in Melbourne.
Which was not the case at the US Open or at Roland Garros.
In Paris, however, the players had not had to undergo a quarantine of fourteen days… The document also indicates that the prize money would be totally preserved (it was slightly down at Porte d'Auteuil).
A detail that is obviously important and a good argument to invite them to make the trip to the Antipodes and live in a "bubble".
Are the French ATP tournaments in February threatened?
If this date of February 8 was confirmed for the start of the Australian Open, the schedule for the start of the ATP and WTA season may be completely upset and the traditional tournament appointments in France in February are threatened. .
The Open Sud de France in Montpellier to be contested from January 31 to February 7 would therefore not take place and the Open 13 in Marseille which is due to start on February 15 would be greatly upset ... For the time being the Marseille tournament in Jean-François Caujolle, probably the most richly endowed ATP 250 of the season, has a very good cast with the winner of Bercy and the Masters Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas double title holder or the rising star Jannik Sinner.
Not sure that these headliners will make the trip to France in the wake of an Australian Open on the other side of the planet ...
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