Australian Open 2021 to allow 50% crowds in stadium, Federer and Serena to participate

Tennis fans all over world have a reason to rejoice and look forward to 2021. Following a rollercoaster 2020 season, Grand Slams may be back in full force next year. After  Australian Open which concluded on February 2, or Grand Slam this year has h a full audience or a full roster of top players.

Wimbledon Championships were cancelled due to raging pandemic.  US Open took place with audience and without men's World . 2 Rafael Nal and . 4 Roger Federer. In women's draw, both top seeds, Ash Barty and Simona Halep pulled out, along with defending champion Bianca Andreescu and multiple or big names. French Open 2020 is also missing big names like Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios, defending champion Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka and Andreescu. 

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Australian Open 2021 updates

Speaking to Nine's Wide World of Sports, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley confirmed yesterday that Australian Open 2021 will commence on January 18, 2021. Tiley said that following success of US Open and French Open 2020, Tennis Australia is confident regarding hosting 2021's first Grand Slam. He ded that he has been in close touch with organisers and medical staff at tournaments and at home in order to plan Australian Open 2021. Slam is expected to go on with a 50% audience presence. 

According to Tiley's plan, players will be expected to fly to continent late in December 2020 where y will quarantine for 14 days in various cities. Tiley said that he hopes this will create a bubble within which players can n travel to Melbourne Park. Incidentally, Melbourne is a part of state of Victoria, which was under strict lockdown impositions after witnessing a surge of COVID-19 cases.

It is expected that se restrictions will be reduced by next year. Tiley also said that association hopes to host over six weeks of tennis, with some smaller practise opportunities before main Grand Slam. 

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Federer and Williams will be back in action at Australian Open 2021

One of most anticipated anuncements for Australian Open 2021 was wher Roger Federer would be back in contention at Slam. In his interview yesterday, Tiley confirmed Swiss maestro's participation at Slam. He also confirmed that Serena Williams would be back in competition at Melbourne Park. 

Roger Federer's last professional game this year was at Australian Open, where he was soundly defeated by World . 1 and eventual winner vak Djokovic in semi-finals. Federer anunced that he would be sitting out on rest of season to recuperate from knee surgery.

Serena Williams, still chasing Margaret Court's 24 Grand Slam singles titles, will also be returning from injury. Serena Williams pulled out of her French Open 2020 second-round match due to an Achilles injury. Before that, she reached semi-final at US Open 2020.

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