SYDNEY: Australian authorities said mandatory hotel quarantine for people arriving for the Australian Open tennis tournament was essential to stop COVID-19, as the country recorded another day with no new locally acquired cases on Tuesday.
Some of the world’s top tennis players including world No. 1 Novak Djokovic have questioned the country’s enforced 14-day hotel quarantine, suggesting they should be allowed to complete the process in accommodation with tennis courts before the tournament which starts in Victoria state on Feb. 8.
But Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said he would not make changes.
“People are free to ask for things, but the answer is no,” Andrews told reporters in a televised news conference.
“They knew what they were traveling into and we are not cutting corners or making special arrangements.”
More than 70 players and their entourage are confined to their hotel rooms after passengers on three charter flights returned positive tests for the coronavirus. Victoria recorded four new cases in hotel quarantine on Tuesday, but these are not counted as community transmissions.
Andrews came under substantial pressure in 2020 after putting the country’s second-most populous state into a months-long lockdown to fight a second wave of infections of the new coronavirus.
In neighboring New South Wales state, Hollywood actor Matt Damon was granted an exemption from hotel quarantine after arriving to film a “Thor” sequel in Sydney.
Damon flew in on a private jet, will stay in a rented house under security and pay for hospital-grade cleaning for his 14-day quarantine, a doctor involved in his quarantine was quoted saying in local media.
As Australia’s hard-line border controls keep daily numbers of new coronavirus cases at zero or low single digits, tourism operators have called for additional subsidies after health authorities suggested the country would not fully reopen its borders in 2021.
If the industry did not receive an extension of federal wage subsidies that are due to end in March, “we’ll be lucky to have a tourism industry in 12 or 18 months’ time,” Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
But Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the country would be unlikely to fully reopen its border soon, even though it hopes to start a vaccination program next month.
“There will be a process through 2021 of returning to some sort of normal,” Kelly told reporters.
“Unfortunately, international borders changes will be one of the last things to change, rather than the first.”
Australia says ‘no’ to tennis stars’ calls for COVID-19 quarantine change
https://arab.news/25pbp
Australia says ‘no’ to tennis stars’ calls for COVID-19 quarantine change
- ‘People are free to ask for things, but the answer is no’
- ‘They knew what they were traveling into and we are not cutting corners or making special arrangements’
Tennis world number ones Sabalenka, Alcaraz begin Australian Open campaigns
- Carlos Alcaraz, who could complete a career Grand Slam if he wins the tournament, faces Adam Walton
- Aryna Sabalenka takes on Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah as she seeks a third title at Melbourne Park
MELBOURNE: The first round of the Australian Open begins in Melbourne on Sunday.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz, who could complete a career Grand Slam if he wins the tournament, faces Adam Walton, while Aryna Sabalenka takes on Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah as she seeks a third title at Melbourne Park.
Top men’s match: Alcaraz v Walton
At 22, Alcaraz could replace Don Budge as the youngest man to achieve the career Grand Slam with victory at the Australian Open. The Spaniard has left no one in any doubt what his main goal is for the 2026 season, saying in November he would rather win a first Melbourne Park crown than retain his French and US Open titles.
His quest to make history will begin with a first-round tie against Australian Walton.
The pair have crossed paths once before, with Alcaraz beating the Australian 6-4 7-6(4) during his title-winning run at the Queen’s Club Championships last year.
Top women’s match: Sabalenka v Rakotomanga Rajaonah
Sabalenka will be bidding to continue her incredible record in hard court Grand Slam tournaments when she begins her campaign against Frenchwoman Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
The Belarusian world number one has reached the final of the last six majors she has played on the surface, winning four of those.
She enters the competition in fine form after retaining her Brisbane International title this month without losing a set, and should have little trouble when she takes on the 118th-ranked Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
Venus Williams is back
Venus Williams, a two-times Australian Open singles finalist, returns to the tournament for the first time since 2021 after receiving a wildcard.
The 45-year-old faces Olga Danilovic in the first round, where she is set to become the oldest woman to feature in the Australian Open main draw by surpassing Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she bowed out in the first round in 2015.
Williams has endured a poor start to the season, losing to Magda Linette in the first round in Auckland and to Tatjana Maria in her opening match at the Hobart International.
Despite her defeats, she said she was happy with her level.
“I can’t expect perfection right now, but I know I’m playing good tennis. Winning and losing doesn’t know any age. Once you walk on court, you’re there to compete,” Williams said before her defeat in Hobart.
Australian Open order of play on Sunday
Here is the order of play on the main showcourts on the first day of the Australian Open (prefix number denotes seeding):
Rod Laver Arena
- Day session
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) v 7-Jasmine Paolini (Italy)
3-Alexander Zverev (Germany) v Gabriel Diallo (Canada)
- Night session
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah (France)
1-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) v Adam Walton (Australia)
Margaret Court Arena
- Day session
Maria Sakkari (Greece) v Leolia Jeanjean (France)
18-Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina) v Zhang Zhizhen (China)
- Night session
10-Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan) v Jenson Brooksby (US)
Mananchaya Sawangkaew (Thailand) v 28-Emma Raducanu (Britain)
John Cain Arena
- Day session
Arthur Fery (Britain) v 20-Flavio Cobolli (Italy)
- Day session
12-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v Cristina Bucsa (Spain)
- Night session
29-Frances Tiafoe (US) v Jason Kubler (Australia)
Olga Danilovic (Serbia) v Venus Williams (US)
