Photo: Australian Open / Disclosure
The Australian Open organization has confirmed that the first Grand Slam of the season will be held in public. In total, there will be 30,000 spectators per day during the first eight days of the competition, starting on 8 February.
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When officials were putting the finishing touches on the courts and surrounding areas in Melbourne Park, the complex hosting the tournament, said Melbourne State Sports Minister Martin Pakula of Melbourne State, would be up to 50% of viewers compared to previous years. 390,000 people expected the Grand Slam in two weeks. In this way, the campus will achieve half of its maximum capacity.
In the first week, 30,000 visitors will come daily. Then, as of the second week of the event, the capacity will be reduced to 25 thousand people, divided between day and night sessions, half in each period.
“The Rod Laver Arena will have an incredible atmosphere, not unlike the atmosphere we’ve seen in tournaments in recent years,” said Pakula. “It will not be the same, but it will be the most important and public international event in the world after several months,” the minister said.
In the exhibition matches on Friday (29) in the city of Adelaide in preparation for the Australian Open, about 4,000 fans went on to personally win the Serbian Novak Djokovic and Spaniard Rafael Nadal at Memorial Drive Park Tennis. Players in the world, number 1 and 2 respectively, celebrated being able to play in the presence of spectators after a difficult year. Other big names, such as Dominic Thiem, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams were also in court.
This Saturday (30), the last group of players left in Melbourne before the Australian Open will leave their hotel rooms. More than 1,000 players and staff have gone through a period of two weeks of imprisonment since 14 January, when the first of 17 flights chartered by Tennis Australia reached Melbourne and Adelaide, the tournament’s official body.
Three of these flights had people infected with Kovid-19, meaning that 72 tennis players had to remain in strict quarantine without the possibility of getting out of their rooms. Other athletes who were not in isolation were allowed to practice activities for up to five hours a day.
Australian Grand Slam director Craig Tilley assured on Saturday that the competition would be fair for all players despite the various preparations. “There are a lot of questions about just one tournament. Some players have been quarantined, others have not. We gave nine days, quitting quarantine, when they would actually play. It would not be completely ideal, but it would be enough. Is. Time to be as prepared as possible. “He said.
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