Australian Open in disarray as more tennis arrivals test positive
The Australian Open preparations of 47 players have been thrown into disarray after a second charter flight returned a positive COVID result, forcing all on board into quarantine.
The Australian Open preparations of 47 players have been thrown into disarray after a second charter flight returned a positive COVID result, forcing all on board into hard lockdown.
A person on a second Australian Open charter flight – this one from Abu Dhabi – has tested positive to COVID-19 on arrival in Melbourne in another blow to the grand slam.
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria confirmed the tournament participant was not one of the 23 players on board, the same as the two cases on the flight from Los Angeles, the News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom reported. Another 24 players were on a flight from Los Angeles, making 47 affected so far. There are no other known positive tests from the Abu Dhabi flight, but routine testing will continue for passengers across the next fortnight.
Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk was on board the Abu Dhabi flight and shared the news with her Instagram followers. it is also understood Bianca Andreescu, Angelique Kerber, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ons Jabeur, Belinda Bencic and Maria Sakkari were on board.
The passenger arrived in Melbourne at 8.20am on Friday from Abu Dhabi, alongside other Australian Open players, support staff and attendees.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said on Saturday afternoon he was in contact with the players whose preparations for next month were in disarray due to a COVID scare.
Tennis Australia has acknowledged none of the players who were on a flight from Los Angeles featuring two people who tested positive to the virus will be able to practise over the next fortnight.
They include dual-Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and Japanese star Kei Nishikori.
Two people, who are believed to be a coach of an American player and an airline employee, tested positive after the plane arrived in Melbourne.
As a result, all 79 people aboard the Los Angeles flight — 24 of whom were players among the 67 passengers — will now serve a full fortnight in quarantine.
While their rivals are allowed to train and prepare during a five-hour window each day at Melbourne Park, Albert Reserve and Memorial Drive in Adelaide, they will be confined to their rooms.
Tiley acknowledged it was a challenge for those who have been disadvantaged ahead of the Australian Open beginning on February 8.
Provided all goes well, and they remain virus-free, they will be allowed to exit quarantine at the end of January.
But this means they will have been unable to prepare or train for the events in the opening week of February at Melbourne Park, which serve as a preparation for the Australian Open.
“We are communicating with everyone on this flight, and particularly the playing group whose conditions have now changed, to ensure their needs are being catered to as much as possible, and that they are fully appraised of the situation,” Tiley said.
“Our thoughts are with the two people who tested positive on the flight and we wish them well for their recovery.”
The state Department of Health and Human Services in Victoria confirmed the test results.
It is believed players from South America joined some of those based in North America on the Qatar Airways flight that arrived on Friday.
“An aircrew member and Australian Open participant who is not a player have been transferred to a health hotel following positive test results for coronavirus (COVID-19),” the DHHS statement reads.
“The passenger result came in after midnight Friday night and will be counted in tomorrow’s figures. The aircrew member and the passenger have been interviewed and transferred to a health hotel as per normal processes for positive cases.
“All remaining 66 passengers on the flight have been determined to be close contacts. Any players and support people will not be able to leave quarantine to attend training. The remaining flight crew all tested negative and were permitted to fly out without passengers directly to their home port. They left at 7am today.
“Upon arrival to Australia all players are immediately placed in a secure quarantine environment for 14 days under the authority of COVID Quarantine Victoria and will undergo a more rigorous testing schedule than for most returning travellers.”
It comes with some of the international contingent already raising complaints on social media about the quality of the lunches they have been provided.
Those affected from Los Angeles were on a flight that landed in Melbourne at 5.15am on Friday morning.
There were two positive COVID-19 tests on Santiago Gonzalez’s flight to Melbourne from LAX and everyone on it will have to quarantine for two weeks. pic.twitter.com/mS510fWiOJ
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) January 16, 2021
“Unfortunately we have been informed by the health authorities that two people on your flight from LAX that arrived at 5:15am on Friday 15 January have returned positive COVID-19 PCR tests on arrival to Melbourne,” the statement said.
“We know this is not how you imagined your preparations for the AO would start but our entire team is here to support and do everything we can to get your through this.
“You will soon be contacted by our medical experts Aspen Medical if you haven’t been already.
“They are available 24/7 to support you with all your medical, mental health or wellbeing concerns.
“The most important thing you need to know right now is you are not alone in this and we are here to provide you any extra support you need.”
Made it to Melbourne! Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here! Thank you ðŸ™ðŸ» pic.twitter.com/Jt0ywFIEj4
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) January 15, 2021
Everyone coming to Australia was required to test negative before being allowed to travel.
An exception was made for Tennys Sandgren, who travelled from America, after officials deemed he was not contagious because he had contracted the virus in November and subsequently recovered.
More than 1200 players and coaches over the past 48 hours, were part of the great Australian Open airlift for the 2021 edition, with planes ferrying competitors across the world at a 25 per cent capacity.
Meanwhile, the next stress test of the COVID-safe protocols for the Australian Open will occur this weekend when the superstars of tennis hit the courts.
Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were among those to arrive in Australia early on Friday morning to begin a fortnight of hotel quarantine – with a caveat.
While other entrants to Australia are required to remain in their hotel for the duration of their quarantine, players will be allowed a five-hour window daily in order to practise and train after providing a negative test.
Without this exception granted it was likely the summer of tennis would not have proceeded as players need to be able to train to compete.
It’s a double-edged sword. This daily window for players is also the biggest threat to the tournaments with the potential for a breach given players have come from COVID-19 hot spots in Europe and North America, along with Asia and the Middle East.
The regulations are by far the strictest any tennis player will have faced since the tour resumed last August, a period that includes the US and French Opens.
But policing those social media accounts, which can spark a fire that is often difficult to put out, is another matter.
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