The normal return of the tennis world will take less than a week.
After opening its doors to 30,000 fans a day and rediscovering the sound of a bad Grand Slam tennis tournament, the Australian Open will travel behind closed doors on Saturday, following the announcement of a five-day blockade in Victoria.
The decision came in response to a group of new cases of Covid-19 in a region that contained a large amount of the virus and the arrival of new, more contagious variants in Australia. The tournament will continue, effectively in a balloon similar to the French Open last autumn, in order to bring the crowds back in time for the women’s semifinals next week.
But the start of the block, which started at 23:59 local time, was so sudden that Novak Djokovic’s victory in five sets against Taylor Fritz had to be interrupted in the fourth set. The clock was ticking around midnight and fans had to be introduced.
“I will not waste words: today it hurts. Victorians know, better than anyone, how deep, “said Victoria’s Prime Minister Andrew Andrews. “But as we have seen – here in Australia and around the world – we are facing a new type of enemy. A smarter, faster and more infectious virus. ”