MELBOURNE • An Australian Open testing blitz has revealed no new coronavirus cases, organisers said yesterday, putting preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam back on track after a Covid-19 scare.
The hard-court event was thrown into disarray when a worker at one of the designated quarantine hotels became infected with the virus on Wednesday.
Some 507 players and officials were ordered to take tests and isolate, with six warm-up tournaments suspended on Thursday.
But they were all cleared yesterday as the action resumed at Melbourne Park.
“All tests conducted on AO (Australian Open) quarantine participants yesterday have returned negative results,” a tweet from the organisers read.
As such, Australian Open boss Craig Tiley is confident fans will be able to attend matches at the Slam, which starts on Monday.
“Spectators will continue to be allowed in the site, and we are still selling tickets,” he said yesterday. “The site will be an extremely safe place. There’s health checks, contact tracing set up, divided into zones, physical distancing. At this point, there’s no change to our position on crowds.”
Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 will be allowed at the Open, about half the attendance of last year.
The draw was made yesterday, with Novak Djokovic set to begin his men’s singles title defence against Jeremy Chardy in the first round, while women’s champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis.
The third-ranked Dominic Thiem is in the same half of the draw as world No. 1 Djokovic, with the US Open champion to face Mikhail Kukushkin in his opener.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, seeking a first title in Melbourne since 2009, is in the other half and will take on Laslo Djere in his opener.
The 20-time Slam winner has a slightly easier route as his path to the final will be blocked by Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, while Djokovic has to also contend with Alexander Zverev and Stan Wawrinka.
In the women’s draw, the top-ranked Ashleigh Barty resumes her quest to become the first homegrown singles winner at the Open since 1978. She faces Danka Kovinic, while Serena Williams, bidding to win a record-equalling 24th Major, will meet Laura Siegemund.
But US Open winner Naomi Osaka, the 2019 champion here, has a series of tricky matches, starting with a clash with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a quarter-finalist last year.
The world No. 3 could face Caroline Garcia and Ons Jabeur in her next two rounds before a likely match-up with either Garbine Muguruza or Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.
In yesterday’s ATP Cup, Zverev brushed off a tight singles defeat by Djokovic to end Serbia’s reign with victory in the doubles as Germany advanced to the semi-finals of the 12-team event.
Zverev partnered Jan-Lennard Struff to defeat the 17-time Slam champion, playing with Nikola Cacic, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 10-7.
The Germans will face Russia while Spain, missing an unfit Nadal for a second straight round, take on Italy today.
Elsewhere, Williams pulled out of her Yarra Valley Classic semi-final meeting with Barty today, citing a shoulder injury that will spark concern over her fitness.
There are also worries for Simona Halep after the world No. 2, sporting a back brace, appeared hampered as she exited the Gippsland Trophy in a 6-2, 6-1 quarter-final loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
ATP CUP
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