Australian Open 2021: Tournament likely to commence from February 1

laver arena Australian Open

Following up on what the CEO of Tennis Australia, Mr. Craig Tiley had said about the final date for the beginning of the 2021 Australian Open earlier, there finally seems to be an agreement over the first day of February as the day of commencement for the opening Grand Slam.

The Australian Open will kickstart the 2021 Grand Slam season as it always does every year. The tournament begins usually from January but this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Open has been postponed.

Players asked to gear for February 1 beginning

^{Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem, 2020 Australian Open men’s finalists.}

The 2021 Australian Open had found itself in long-lasting uncertainty due to the challenges imposed by the coronavirus outbreak. There has been a spike in Covid-19 cases in the country and the state borders are being shut currently to avoid the spread further. Players have been however asked to start preparing for a February 1 starting date to the Australian Open, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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February 1 is firming as the likely Australian Open start date but the Victorian government is standing firm on its insistence all players serve a 14-day quarantine period before beginning their preparation for the grand slam. https://t.co/uPwkR8BaCG
— The Age (@theage) November 26, 2020

The precariousness over the Grand Slam happening will clear once the Victorian government consents to letting players travel to Melbourne in the first week of January.

The Victorian government demands players to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine before starting to train which also stems as a reason to pull out of the tournament for top players owing to a very restricted training period. Nonetheless, a final decision on the start date is likely by Friday.

Police supervised training session at the Australian Open next year

Tennis Australia, ATP and WTA are currently in talks with the Victorian government in the hope that it will eventually bend on letting players practice and train during isolation.

A Radio presenter and court announcer at the Open, Brett Phillips tweeted on Tuesday a claim that all practice sessions will be supervised by Victorian police.

AO Update: My understanding is that the international players will be able to quarantine from Jan 7-21 supervised by Victoria Police & will be able to practice but not compete.

Jan 25 or Feb 1 start to be confirmed, & decision still to be made on Qualies & lead in tournament/s
— BrettPhillips (@BrettAPhillips) November 24, 2020

The Australian Open 2021 lead-up events are in jeopardy as players participating in the Grand Slam are likely to reach Melbourne not before January 7.

Also Read: Australian Open 2021: Police to supervise training sessions