Australian Open boss: We are looking at what to do if players need to be quarantined

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley reveals they are already preparing for the possibility that international players will have to undergo a quarantine period when they arrive to Australia for the beginning of the next season. 

Last week, Wimbledon got cancelled as the ATP and WTA further extended the suspension of the men's and women's professional tours until at least July 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

The ATP and WTA representatives are hopeful that the season will resume at some point of the year but unfortunately the possibility of not seeing any tennis for the rest of 2020  is becoming bigger. 

The Australian Open organizers will do everything in their power to safely proceed with the event in January as playing behind the closed doors is also something for which they will be ready if required. 

"There is just so much uncertainty as to what is going to happen in the next month let alone the next eight months," Tiley said in a statement on Tuesday, as revealed on The Age.

“These extraordinary times dictate a need for agility and extensive planning that explores a very wide range of options.

"We have to be prepared for a changed environment. We obviously hope that as a community, we are through COVID-19 as quickly and safely as is possible. But we don’t know which of the current measures being used to try and contain the spread of infection will still need to be in place for the medium to long term.

“For example, with such a high-dependency on international travel we are looking at what we might have to do if players need to be quarantined for any length of time before being allowed to freely move around Australia.

"Another example is if mass gatherings are still not allowed or severely restricted next year, we are looking at the possibility of running an event for broadcast. These are just two of many scenarios we have to examine."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2VfQAmD