The Australian Open and all the regular interstate leadup tournaments for the season’s first tennis major will be staged in Melbourne in January in a bid to "minimize risks for players traveling and quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic." Tennis Australia will transfer the tournaments from Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart to Melbourne, where a quarantine and practice hub and a "bio-secure playing hub will be set up for the sport’s elite players." ATP Cup GM and Brisbane Int'l Tournament Dir Mark Handley said the move was made "to provide some certainty for the players and allow them enough time to prepare for the Australian Open." Int'l players are "expected to start arriving in Australia in mid-December for a 14-day quarantine period." The Australian Open plans are "similar to the buildup" for the U.S. Open (AP, 11/16).
However, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said that plans to play the "entire summer of tennis in Victoria" are "not settled." He said that while there was a "'preference to have it located in one place,' the public health team needed to sign off on all the arrangements." Andrews: "The notion that this is all tied up with a bow, it's a done deal. That's simply wrong" (THE AGE, 11/16).
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley "sympathised with Queensland fans robbed of January action." Tiley said, "It’s unfortunate that due to the pandemic we can’t stage our usual events in Brisbane in 2021." He added, "We look forward to coming back [to Queensland] bigger and better than ever in 2022" (NCA NEWSWIRE, 11/16).
Meanwhile, the Australian Open and Ralph Lauren Corporation announced a new, global long-term partnership. Ralph Lauren has been named Official Outfitter of the Australian Open and will outfit all on-court officials, including the AO ballkids and chair umpires (AO).
