Tennis: Millman says Australian Open decision will come this week

Leading Australian player and ATP Players Council member John Millman says the fate of the Australian Open will be decided this week.

Tennis player John Millman and his girlfriend Fi quarantine in the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. Picture: Jane Dempster

John Millman believes Tennis Australia and the Victoria government will decide the fate of the Australian Open this week. He’s inserted his two bobs’ worth by guaranteeing Premier Daniel Andrews that the world’s best players will take seriously the responsibility of protecting the slashed rate of Covid-19 cases in Melbourne.

Millman is trapped in a two-week quarantine at Sydney hotel after a four-month overseas tour that included the US Open in New York, the French Open in Paris and his first ATP Tour title at Kazakhstan.

There is speculation the tournament could be pushed back to February or as late as March but Millman, a member of the ATP Player Council, says the Open conundrum boils down to this. If Andrews can grab his pen and place a tick next to the request for overseas players to train while doing two weeks of hotel quarantine from January 1, the Open will be a goer from January 18. If Andrews decides practice facilities will not be made available – basically, forcing players to sit in Melbourne hotel rooms for two weeks before they enter gruelling best-of-five-set matches on hard courts – the Open will be cancelled.

“I think Tennis Australia is definitely up against it,” Millman said. “Time is of the essence. The challenge for Tennis Australia is to create a safe environment that also satisfies the government approach to tackling the pandemic. We understand that. But the questions from the overseas players are growing.

“The decision can’t come soon enough. What I’ve heard is there potentially could be some type of deadline by the end of the month. That’s the latest we could leave it, I think. Tennis Australia would probably say that, too.”

Millman said the tennis fraternity would arrive in Melbourne, in their thousands, understanding they had to do the safe and right thing in a city that has been to isolation hell and back this year. Novak Djokovic’s exhibition tournaments were a Covid-19 disaster but since the return of the top-flight tour, there’s been no major dramas.

“I cannot think of any instances of players being irresponsible or not respecting the quarantine bubble lifestyle and rules,” Millman said. “I think tennis players can be pretty proud of themselves for how they’ve got the sport up and running again. Hopefully that sends a positive message to government on behalf of us all. Hopefully we’ve set a pretty good precedent that earns us some government trust. Players completely realise how serious the situation is.”

Millman added: “The overseas guys might look at us and say, you’ve got hardly any cases a day in Australia. What’s the problem? But you can’t put a price on people’s lives. And I guess you can’t fault what governments have done in terms of limiting the spread when you see other countries and how affected they still are. Players completely understand the seriousness of it.”

Millman believed there was a slim-to-none chance of the Open being staged later in the year. “I say that because the calendar is pretty full. I saw a change of dates touted online, like playing it around Easter, but I don’t know if that would be feasible. I’d find it highly unlikely for that to happen.”

Millman said TA would only push ahead with the Open if players could train during quarantine.

“I think Tennis Australia is pretty realistic with that, too. Gauging the temperature among the players, if we were to sit in a hotel room for two weeks and then go out and play, you just can’t do it. Tennis a pretty physical game.

“We’re not taking the knocks they’re taking at the footy but it’s still a pretty physical game and you lose a fair bit of conditioning in those two weeks. You have to go in with some sort of physical preparation.

“I think the players will be pretty satisfied if they can train in a quarantine bubble environment. Going from hotels to the courts and back to the hotel in a closed environment … that can work if the government gives us that tick of approval. I’m really hopeful they do.

“I’m probably slightly biased here but I think it would be a great celebratory event for the Melbourne community and all of Australia. And in terms of international sporting events, I think the Open is head and shoulders above anything else we have in Australia.”