Icon: enlarge
US professional Sandgren last year at the Australian Open
Photo: Lee Jin-man / AP
Corona confusion around US tennis professional Tennys Sandgren: First, last year's quarter-finalist saw his participation in the Australian Open already burst at Los Angeles airport due to a positive test result, but after some back and forth he was allowed to board the plane to Australia.
Sandgren received the flight permit from the authorities of the Australian state of Victoria because he had already contracted Covid-19 in November and is considered recovered and no longer contagious despite the renewed positive test.
On Twitter, Sandgren reported in detail about the confusion at the airport, after the happy outcome he celebrated Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley as a "magician".
To explain it, the official Twitter channel of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year said: "Some people who have recovered from Covid-19 and are not infectious can break down the virus for several months."
The tennis professionals are flown to Australia with charter flights from all over the world, after arrival they have to go into a two-week quarantine.
During this time, they are allowed to leave the hotel room for training and treatment for a maximum of five hours a day and are regularly tested for corona infection.
The Australian Open starts on February 8th in Melbourne.
Despite the pandemic, Australia has now justified the implementation of the tournament with the question of location.
The city could have lost the Australian Open permanently to a city in Asia if it had been canceled.
At least that is what Victoria State Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said.
Andrews is convinced that if Australia had canceled the tennis tournament, it would have been held elsewhere.
“It would be in Japan or China or Singapore.
And the real risk is that it won't come back (to Australia) afterwards. "
Icon: The mirror
aha / sid / dpa
