Australia has done its level best to place the entire summer of tennis in jeopardy, first and foremost the Australian Open.
Firstly the ridiculous hard borders and quarantine rules between the states meant changing all pre Australian Open tournament venues to Victoria.
The mistake of naively trusting Victoria’s quarantine system, after the debacle of this year (still yet to be resolved with any confidence), and moving all lead up tournaments from interstate to Melbourne and Victorian regions, left us open to government change of mind and no contingency plans.
Dan Andrews has shifted the time line for international tennis players quarantine arrangements from December to January, leaving them effectively no time to participate in the lead up tournaments.
This virtually wipes out those tournaments and with the threat of participation in a Grand Slam event without any tournament match practice, there will be an assured unwillingness of many players, including the very top ranked, to bother making the trip to Australia.
The Australian Open and its lead in tournaments could very well be delayed, if not cancelled.
If delayed, the 2021 season calendar will be sent into chaos.
In hindsight, NSW, with a proven solid quarantine system in place, should have been offered the chance to plan hosting lead in tournaments and the Australian Open, as a contingency option.
The one place in the world with practically no cases of the virus could see an Australian Open in trouble. It beggars belief.
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