Melbourne (AFP)
World No. 1, Australian Ashleigh Barty, who has not played for eleven months, and American Serena Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slam titles, will participate in the two WTA tournaments in Melbourne, preparations for the Open from Australia, their organizers announced Thursday.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which is disrupting the resumption of the 2021 tennis season, the Australian Open has been postponed by three weeks, and will take place from February 8 to 21.
Players will arrive in Australia on January 15, to spend a mandatory 14-day quarantine imposed on all foreign arrivals before taking part in tournaments at the Australian Open venue, Melbourne Park, on January 31. to February 6.
Barty chose his land to return to the courts, eleven months after his last appearance.
The young player had given up last season at the US Open as well as at Roland Garros, which she won in 2019, for fear of the pandemic.
At his side, are announced the world No. 2 Simona Halep, Sofia Kenin, victorious of the Australian Open in 2020, as well as Naomi Osaka, winner of the US Open, Victoria Azarenka or Angelique Kerber.
The players, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, will compete at the same time the ATP Cup, a team event created by the ATP in which twelve nations will participate.
Those who do not qualify for this competition, such as the Belgian David Goffin, the Swiss Stan Wawrinka, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or the Australian Nick Kyrgios, will be lined up in two 250 tournaments, which will be held simultaneously from January 31 to 6 February.
Melbourne did not come out of a multi-month quarantine until October, following a second wave of Covid-19, which complicated Grand Slam planning.
Australia has largely contained the new coronavirus, although new outbreaks of the pandemic in Sydney and Melbourne have forced authorities to reintroduce certain restrictions, including closing state borders.
© 2021 AFP