2021 Australian Open to start February 8

Australian Open (Steve Collins, Wikimedia Commons)

According to tennis.com on Wednesday, the 2021 Australian Open will start on February 8. This was three weeks later than expected, as the original dates for the tournament were January 18 to 31.

The reason for the change in dates is related to coronavirus. Australia has strict coronavirus regulations, and the government needed more time to negotiate with Tennis Australia in order to formulate a plan. Players who plan to participate can enter the Australian province of Victoria as early as January 15. They then must self-quarantine for two weeks before the first major of 2021 is set to begin.

Under Australian Government quarantining conditions according to Scott Gullan of The Australian, players must be tested for coronavirus two days before leaving for Australia, and then be tested on days one, three, seven, 10, and 14 while quarantining in Australia. During these two weeks of quarantining, players can practice for two hours each in the gym and on the tennis court. Players will also be allowed to eat in the dining room for one hour. The other 19 hours in the day, the players are expected to be in their hotel room.

The Adelaide International was to move to Melbourne in January with the dates of January 12 to 18. This event could now be moved to a later date.

At this time there are plans to also have spectators in Melbourne. There were no fans at the 2020 United States Open, but there were spectators at the 2020 French Open.

Australia has done a lot better in containing coronavirus than most other countries in the world. There are presently 1413 cases of coronavirus in Australia, and 908 total deaths. There have been 27,939 cases of coronavirus in Australia overall, and 25, 618 Australians have recovered.

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