With the start of the Australian Open less than 4 days away, another case of Covid-19 at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne has forced organizers of the Australian Open to isolate 507 players, officials, and support staff.
The covid positive man is a worker at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne and had last worked on 29th of January. The entire incident had given rise to speculations of the tournament being postponed but Craig Tiley has now himself come forward to state that the first slam of the year would go ahead as per the schedule.
However, Craig Tiley said that the draw ceremony will be postponed from Thursday to Friday.
Australian open-Probability of players being positive is “low”
“We’re absolutely confident the Australian Open will go ahead. We are starting on Monday,” Tiley told reporters in Melbourne.
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Tiley said the players and support staff who underwent quarantine in the Grand Hyatt hotel, where the infected man worked, would have their obligatory tests for the new coronavirus completed by Thursday evening. The players have been asked to isolate until they get a result.
“The draw for the Grand Slam tournament had been postponed from Thursday to Friday,” he added. Notably, Thursday’s warm-up matches at Melbourne Park were canceled after the positive case at the Melbourne hotel emerged.
On the other hand, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has had his work cut out after yet another spike in corona cases, suspected to be caused by a new strain.
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He, however, maintained that the situation should not impact the Australian Open itself, which is set to begin on Monday. Speaking on Thursday, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said that out of the 507 people being tested, 160 of them were players. Tiley said that the testing should be completed by 5 p.m., local time Thursday, saying that the players are “casual contacts” and there was a low probability of any of them testing positive.
ATP Cup 2021-Russia in semis:
Daniil Medvedev confirmed Russia’s position in the ATP Cup semi-finals on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Kei Nishikori.
Earlier Andrey Rublev had defeated Y Nishioka in the tie opener to give Russia a 1-0 lead. Russia will be aiming to land their maiden ATP Cup after bowing out in the semis last year.
Earlier, Italy became the first nation into the last four by beating France to follow their opening win against Austria in Group C.
Fabio Fognini won just five games in his ATP Cup opener on Tuesday against Dennis Novak, but bounced back to battle past Benoit Paire 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) and give Italy a 1-0 lead.
Matteo Berrettini, tipped by Djokovic as among the new generation capable of winning a Grand Slam, clinched the tie with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory over Gael Monfils, and sealed the tie for the Italians.
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