Australian Open: How shifting the date for the year’s opening grand slam will create global chaos

Moving the Australian Open to another date sounds easy but any change will have major ramifications here and overseas.

The ball kids face a greater challenge working at the Australian Open when it falls outside the school holidays. Picture: AAP

Had all gone to plan for the Australian summer of tennis, hundreds of the world’s best players would be on planes today heading to the sunburnt land.

Tennis Australia had grand plans for a summer like never before post the pandemic, with more tournaments across the country offering greater access for fans to stars.

But far from welcoming the tennis world on Monday, they await an announcement on when the Australian Open will begin.

Commercial partners were told almost a fortnight ago February 8 would be the starting date.

Leaked communications from players have them entering quarantine on January 17.

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Qualifying may yet be held overseas in early January, an option that has been seriously considered but is far from certain to occur.

The lack of clarity has caused frustration and anxiety for those working at the tournament and those wanting to play in it. And it covers all manner of people, not just the superstars.

Consider the pool of hundreds of drivers Tennis Australia uses every year to transport competitors and workers to and from Melbourne Park and other events.

Some are retirees. But many are teachers and parents. In February, they will be at work or back ferrying their kids to school.

A portion of those children will be the ball kids who chase after balls and race water bottles and towels to players. There are linespeople and other officials similarly affected.

At the corporate level, the Nine Network has sold advertising for both January and February based on the tennis season and opening ratings month.

For ESPN, the tennis in Australia covers a soft month in the United States. But a February 8 start would see the Open clash with America’s biggest sporting event, the Super Bowl.

TA also has similar television deals with dozens of other countries.

Global sponsors providing contracts of up to $20m annually that make the Open the biggest sporting event in the country will be assessing those contracts closely at a time of economic difficulty.

The Australian Open will clash will overseas sporting events if it moves dates. Picture: AAP

Peter Johnston, a long-time tennis administrator who has worked for the ATP and WTA Tours, said shifting the date of a grand slam like the Australian Open is a monumental challenge in terms of logistics.

And TA is trying to pull it off in a four-week period.

“It is like rearranging a chess board. With every move you make, there are massive ramifications,” he said.

TA is walking a tightrope trying to satisfy the Australian and Victorian governments, which require far stricter quarantine arrangements than any other event to have progressed in the COVID-19 era, as well as the ATP and WTA Tours, which look after the players and the other tournaments that comprise the calendar.

The uncertainty has effectively wiped out the opening two months of the tennis circuit, though it seems likely tournaments will be announced in the UAE in the opening fortnight of the year as soon as the Open’s start date is confirmed.

But the package offered by the organisers is appealing — quarantine, flights and accommodation will be covered — and comes at a significant cost that will force TA to borrow money.

The higher-ranked the player, or the bigger their status in terms of prior success in Melbourne, the better the deal is likely to be in terms of personnel who can accompany them to Australia.

At worst — a first round Open loss — the player will depart with $100,000 following the commitment of tournament director Craig Tiley to ensure a maximum prize pool.

The flip side is that tennis players are crying out for opportunities.

Johnston, a former player who is the tournament director of ATP Tour events in China and Russia as well as the Kooyong Classic, said it was clear the Australian Open was trying to do as much as it could within a shifting framework.

Tennis Australia have many logisitical issues to deal with as they try to satisfy the game’s top players. Picture: Michael Klein

The AFL had difficulties negotiating state boundaries to pull off its season. TA is dealing with logistics on a global scale.

“The AO is having a crack. They have to put their best foot forward to ensure they survive. This is what every tournament has to do,” Johnston said.

“They are saying to players, ‘We know it is not ideal, but we are trying to put our best foot forward and this is the very best we can offer given the circumstances’.”

It is not an understatement to say hundreds of millions of dollars are at play for a sport dealing with the dire landscape created by COVID-19.

The shift of the AO has ramifications for indoor events in Europe in February, which have contracts with halls and partners and broadcasters as well.

Indian Wells, considered the biggest tournament outside the grand slams, was the first event cancelled due to the pandemic in March. It appears set to fall by the wayside again in 2021.

Johnston said many tournament directors had gritted their teeth through 2020 and hoped next year might be different.

“COVID-19 is really fundamentally having the biggest influence I have ever seen on the tennis industry I have ever seen in my lifetime,” he said.

“It was only 12 months ago when both tours were looking at how to do our tour calendars two to three years in advance. Now we are in a situation where we don’t know what the next quarter will look like.

“Every business model has had to make significant adjustments. Broadcast deals, other commercial arrangements, every other deal in place has had to question their models. It is a moment of reckoning for many.”

Originally published as Australian Open: How shifting the date for the year’s opening grand slam will create global chaos