Is the Australian Open in jeopardy?

Rod Laver Arena (Wikimedia Commons)

There is still a genuine hope that the 2021 Australian Open will start Monday as scheduled. However, it is never positive that one of the tournament’s biggest skeptics happens to be Victoria Premier Dan Andrews.

Tennis’s first major of 2021 was called into question on Thursday when it was officially reported by Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley that a worker at a Melbourne hotel used to host the players during quarantine, had tested positive for coronavirus. According to Reuters Media, 507 people including 160 players, were impacted. All players were to be tested by Thursday.

As a result the Australian Open tuneup tournaments, including the ATP Cup, did not take place on Thursday. It will be interesting to see if they will resume on Friday.

One optimist appears to be Australian public health official Allen Cheng of the University of Queensland, who has stated that “we think the risk to other guests in the hotel, (including) tennis players and their accompanying staff, is relatively low.” Still, Andrews remains hesitant, and has stated the safety of the Australian people is extremely important.

Unfortunately, the keyword in the statement made by Cheng, appears to be “relatively.” There are simply no guarantees that all the players will test negative and be able to compete starting Monday.

Victoria opposition leader Michael O’Brien meanwhile does not want the same thing to happen at the Australian Open as what happened in Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix in 2020. The race was cancelled only a few hours before the race was about to start.

Meanwhile, there is a possibility that 2009 Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain may not compete. The reason has nothing to do with coronavirus, but a back issue. The injury forced him to miss Spain’s match against Australia on Tuesday at the ATP Cup.

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