Australian Open 2021 organizers give 'massive update' on tournament's fate

fate of Australian Open 2021 hangs in balance as organisers - Tennis Australia - and Victoria state government try to work out specifics of marquee Grand Slam event. Victoria, state where Australian Open's home ground of Melbourne Park is situated, has been one of worst-hit by coronavirus pandemic. However, with some stringent controls, Melbourne's coronavirus cases tally has fallen to zero in last few weeks. With this in mind, government has become extremely selective about who y let within state borders - shutting it off to or Australians as well. 

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Tennis Australia anunces new quarantine rules

Amidst much upheaval regarding dates and biosecurity rules at Australian Open 2021, Tennis Australia has anunced a slight relaxation in quarantine rules for tournament. According to latest reports, Victoria Government has given Tennis Australia permission to allow players to train during 14-day quarantine before tournament. This is a huge victory for players, with World .1 and 8-time Australian Open champion vak Djokovic lobbying hard for this right. 

ATP Finals champion and World . 4 Daniil Medvedev will also count this anuncement as a win. Medvedev has maintained that it would be “dangerous” for players to go straight from a two-week-long quarantine into a major event like Australian Open.

It will also be a huge victory for Tennis Australia, who were sure to lose out on some players without this give. Local Victorian newspaper, ' ' reported that players would have to “strictly here” to health guidelines while practising during quarantine period. 

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Australian Open, ATP Cup set to be postponed?

While re has been official communication from Tennis Australia concerning dates of Australian Open, Victoria State officials hinted that event may be postponed by a few weeks from its current dates of January 18-31.  last we heard from TA, CEO Craig Tiley said that final dates for AO 2021 would be released by December 6. Discussions continue between two parties, but with State relenting on practice rule, a postponed Australian Open seems likely and will be preferred over a COVID-hit tournament. 

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Ar major point of contention between TA and Victoria will be question of pre-Australian Open events such as elaide Open and  ATP Cup which will be held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. According to a Reuters report, all such events will have to be cancelled in order to accommodate Victoria's closed-border policy.

However, with many players refusing to go ahe without any event to set Australian Open, organizers might have to shift precursor events to Victoria as well. 

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Im Credits: AP