Melbourne (AFP)
"This Australian Open will be a historic edition in many ways," said tournament boss Craig Tiley on Saturday about the first Grand Slam of the year which was postponed by three weeks (8-21 February) due to health constraints linked to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"For the first time in over 100 years, the Australian Open kicks off in February and we look forward to providing players with what could be one of the best game settings for 2021," he continued.
The Australian Open was originally scheduled to start on January 18, but tennis organizers and governing bodies have had to postpone tournament dates at the request of Australian authorities to put in place unprecedented health measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Players will have to arrive in Australia from January 15 to observe a two-week quarantine period in a secure "health bubble" set up around Melbourne Park, the tournament site.
They must therefore stay in hotels reserved for them and must not stay outside these hotels for more than five hours per day for their training.
Qualifications for this first major tournament of the year will take place for men in Doha and for women in Dubai from January 10 to 13, said Craig Tiley.
The tournament boss added that the singles and doubles tournaments, as well as the wheelchair tennis tournament, have been preserved, but not those for juniors which will be played later in the year.
Finally, the global endowment is unchanged compared to the 2020 edition with a total of 71 million Australian dollars at stake, or 44 million euros.
© 2020 AFP