Australian Open: Victoria Azarenka, Stan Wawrinka and others arrive in Melbourne, head for quarantine

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Australian Open
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Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year is right around the corner and two-time champion of the tournament Victoria Azarenka arrived in Melbourne on one of the 15 charter flights which carried the players and officials into the city for the high-profile tournament. Stan Wawrinka, who won the Australian Open in 2014 has also arrived alongside other players for the same.

Victoria Azarenka, Stan Wawrinka and other players land for Australian Open

Victoria Azarena has updated everyone on social media about her arrival and currently in 14-day quarantine. She also said that she is pleased to be in Australia despite all the COVID-19 restrictions around the world.

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Azarenka had won the tournament in 2012 and 2013. She took to her Twitter account on Friday and shared a picture letting everyone know about her arrival.

The picture is a selfie next to a window showing the downtown city view and captioned: “Made it to Melbourne! Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here! Thank you.”

Check out the Tweet below:

The Swiss player, Stan Wawrinka also posted a photo of himself along with two other players. They were witnessed wearing masks in the business class section of one of the charter flights.

Elina Svitolina, who is a two-time quarterfinalist at Melbourne Park posted a video of her Melbourne hotel suite.

The players had undergone tests and will have to be in quarantine

Tennis Australia have taken the initiative for the charters to arrive early to ensure that the tournament takes place despite the ban on international arrivals into the country.

The players had to pass the COVID-19 tests before they boarded their charter flights, will are in quarantine after the arrival.

A staggering 1,200 players, coaches, entourage and officials turned up late Thursday. The players had to wear personal protective equipment including masks and face shields, before they were taken to bio-bubble.

15 charter flights were restricted to 25 percent capacity, and were set to arrive over a 36-hour period.

The Australian Open was postponed by three weeks because of the restrictions in the country due to the pandemic. The draw is set to take place on February 4 that is four days prior to the start of the main tournament, which will end on February 21 with the men’s singles final.

All other tournaments is set for Melbourne, including the 12-team ATP Cup starting on February 1 and two WTA events in the week leading into the Australian Open.

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