Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said the Australian Open, which begins a month from Friday, should be "able to have at least” 50-75% fan attendance. Tiley said, “We’ve had a long period of no cases, and when you do get a few cases here it’s a big deal. We were in lockdown for four months to get us to zero cases." Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim noted it is a "fluid process” in getting players to Australia and implementing the tournament’s safety protocols. Wertheim added there will be 18 different private flights for players, which are "only going to be 20% capacity.” He said a lot of COVID tests are "about to be administered, both in players’ home countries and when they arrive but bottom line, we’re going to have tennis.” Tiley said the situation has "been crazy.” Tiley said logistically to successfully stage the tournament and keep the players safe is going to be a “small miracle, but we’re giving it a good go.” Tiley: “We’re hoping that when you look at the Australian Open in February, there’s a lot of normalcy to it" (“Tennis Channel Live,” Tennis Channel, 1/7).
