‘Australian Open won’t happen under current restrictions,’ warns Craig Tiley

Probably the immortal legendary Fedal have already been informed of the start date. The rest of the mortal tennis players will have to wait and get the info at the same time as us.

tenor.gif
 
Last edited:
I wonder whether the Victorian Government will be as confident in allowing large crowds?

There is no objective reason they shouldn't, but the politics of covid is quite rancid here.
 
Karma Tennis said:
Victoria has just come out of a Second Wave. A month ago nothing was likely to be going ahead. We are now in a COVID free stage here. There have been zero new cases, and zero new deaths for 30 days. The local State Government is heavily vested in avoiding a Third Wave.

Hosting a MAJOR Tennis Tournament introduces significant logistical challenges under these circumstance.

Here in Melbourne at the current time, we are free to move around with virtually no chance of contracting the virus or getting sick from it. It is a pretty nice place to be in at the moment. Opening up the Borders to International travelers risks us losing that again. And I assure you, no one here wants to go back to what it was like two months ago.

The USTA and the FFT didn't care about the official schedule. Why should Tennis Australia be any different? It's ONLY concern is to stage a successful Australian Open. It doesn't care about any of the tournaments that follow it ... and nor should it! A MAJOR takes priority over everything else.
Click to expand...

But the USTA did stuck to the official schedule(they played the USO on the dates it always holds the USO) No other events on the ATP tour were in conflict with those dates, when the 2020 USO dates were announced in 2019.

FFT was a completely different matter they just announced October dates without even informing the ATP, causing chaos to the official schedule.
 
Moose Malloy said:
But the USTA did stuck to the official schedule(they played the USO on the dates it always holds the USO) No other events on the ATP tour were in conflict with those dates, when the 2020 USO dates were announced in 2019.

FFT was a completely different matter they just announced October dates without even informing the ATP, causing chaos to the official schedule.
Click to expand...
FFT didn't cause chaos to the official schedule. Only the Laver Cup owners (among them are Fed and Tennis Australia) became furious because new dates of the French Open overlapped with the dates of Laver Cup.
 
The FFT did indeed cause a moment of chaos, but the ATP had no choice but to accomodate the French, which turned out to be easy enough due to the ongoing pandemic.
 
Apart from the two weeks for the slam the whole North American leg was altered significantly. The viability of the ATP calendar in the first quarter of 2021 is dubious.

Moose Malloy said:
But the USTA did stuck to the official schedule(they played the USO on the dates it always holds the USO) No other events on the ATP tour were in conflict with those dates, when the 2020 USO dates were announced in 2019.

FFT was a completely different matter they just announced October dates without even informing the ATP, causing chaos to the official schedule.
Click to expand...
 
skypadq said:
okay , so do you think novak djokovic will compete 2021 AO ?
Click to expand...

I believe that Novak and Roger will come to Melbourne regardless. The Appearance Fees they will receive are just too good to refuse. If the AO 2021 is staged, they will certainly play unless they get sick.

I'm not sure that Rafa will come. I think he will focus on RG next year. As for the rest, who knows for sure? I thought Medvedev would, but his WTF Press Conference remarks were interesting. I think Thiem, Tsitsipas, Shapovalov and Sinner will come. As will a lot of the tennis journeymen who are chasing income. All the Aussies will play, inc. DeMinaur, Kyrgios, Millman and Thompson. Kokkinakis will probably receive a Wild Card as he has been in decent local form of late.

Of course, all of this assumes that the ATP recommends players attend the event.

BeatlesFan said:
The only comment is that $500 isn’t very much to pay for two tickets to anything anywhere in developed countries. I attend Indian Wells every year and pay $1000 for the later round matches. Hell, I’ve paid $1500 a ticket to see McCartney or the Stones.

I don’t think only the “elite” attend these events. Most professional people could afford these expenditures. Sometimes you just gotta pay to have a good experience.
Click to expand...

@BeatlesFan (I love 'em too. Have for Decades! The Quiet One was my favourite), I pretty much agree with your sentiments personally. But the National Sports here, Australian Rules Football and Cricket offer signficantly greater value for money to families. I don't know how NFL, MLB, NHL or NBA tix compare to the big Tennis events in the USA. But here you get a lot more Bang for Your Buck following the domestic sports if you want to attend for the sport itself rather than the Circus!

As for Sir Paul, well last time I saw him was at the MCG (mentioned in a prev. post above) when the Lovely Linda was still alive back in the 1990s. Tix were about $100 USD for a decent seat. In the 1990s, most of the Big Name concerts, Pink Floyd (Partial Floyd really because no Roger Waters), The Eagles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, etc. were all round $50 USD for decent seats. Back in the early 1980s, Simon and Garfunkel, KISS, Genesis, all in the $30 USD range.
So times have indeed changed.

I don't mind paying $400 to watch the best tennis players in the world duking it out on RLA. But spending $600 or more to wander around Melbourne Park with 50,000 other people in 40 Deg C weather is not my idea of fun ... especially when many of those other people are there mainly for the social experience rather than the tennis and especially when the Beach is only a few kms away. LOL.

bobleenov1963 said:
my oldest son and I went back to USO for the semi and finals. We paid $3500 each for the semi and $6000 each, box seat, for the final between Fed and Djokovic. Sadly, Fed lost to Djokovic after having something like 24 break points
Click to expand...

You paid for a wonderful lifelong memory which more than justifies the cost. Even more so when you consider you were witnessing two of the greatest players to have graced the sport playing in the Final of one of the four greatest Tournaments in the history of Tennis.

Frankly, I would happily pay the $20,000 odd to have had the same experience. But I would probably be the (Australian) exception to the rule at this point. Most Aussies with $20,000 USD to burn would probably spend several weeks holidaying in Bali or other parts of SE Asia .. or even a couple of weeks in Europe or the USA.

McLovin said:
Admittedly I have not read the article, but does this mean it will be attended by people? Are there any restrictions on crowd size?

Would be a great example of how to handle a pandemic if they could hold it w/ near-full capacity
Click to expand...

TA's plan has always been to allow some people into the event. Originally it was going to be 50% Capacity per day, then it went to 25% Capacity. But now they are talking about 50% Capacity again. I think Tiley will be pushing for even more than that.

But International Travel is highly compromised at the moment. So it will be mainly local Australian fans. The way things are in Melbourne at the moment, I think we will see 50% Capacity if there is no Third Wave. And that will be an excellent result.
 
Karma Tennis said:
Victoria has just come out of a Second Wave. A month ago nothing was likely to be going ahead. We are now in a COVID free stage here. There have been zero new cases, and zero new deaths for 30 days. The local State Government is heavily vested in avoiding a Third Wave.

Hosting a MAJOR Tennis Tournament introduces significant logistical challenges under these circumstance.

Here in Melbourne at the current time, we are free to move around with virtually no chance of contracting the virus or getting sick from it. It is a pretty nice place to be in at the moment. Opening up the Borders to International travelers risks us losing that again. And I assure you, no one here wants to go back to what it was like two months ago.

The USTA and the FFT didn't care about the official schedule. Why should Tennis Australia be any different? It's ONLY concern is to stage a successful Australian Open. It doesn't care about any of the tournaments that follow it ... and nor should it! A MAJOR takes priority over everything else.
Click to expand...

Nailed it with these comments.
 
Karma Tennis said:
I believe that Novak and Roger will come to Melbourne regardless. The Appearance Fees they will receive are just too good to refuse. If the AO 2021 is staged, they will certainly play unless they get sick.

I'm not sure that Rafa will come. I think he will focus on RG next year. As for the rest, who knows for sure? I thought Medvedev would, but his WTF Press Conference remarks were interesting. I think Thiem, Tsitsipas, Shapovalov and Sinner will come. As will a lot of the tennis journeymen who are chasing income. All the Aussies will play, inc. DeMinaur, Kyrgios, Millman and Thompson. Kokkinakis will probably receive a Wild Card as he has been in decent local form of late.

Of course, all of this assumes that the ATP recommends players attend the event.



@BeatlesFan (I love 'em too. Have for Decades! The Quiet One was my favourite), I pretty much agree with your sentiments personally. But the National Sports here, Australian Rules Football and Cricket offer signficantly greater value for money to families. I don't know how NFL, MLB, NHL or NBA tix compare to the big Tennis events in the USA. But here you get a lot more Bang for Your Buck following the domestic sports if you want to attend for the sport itself rather than the Circus!

As for Sir Paul, well last time I saw him was at the MCG (mentioned in a prev. post above) when the Lovely Linda was still alive back in the 1990s. Tix were about $100 USD for a decent seat. In the 1990s, most of the Big Name concerts, Pink Floyd (Partial Floyd really because no Roger Waters), The Eagles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, etc. were all round $50 USD for decent seats. Back in the early 1980s, Simon and Garfunkel, KISS, Genesis, all in the $30 USD range.
So times have indeed changed.

I don't mind paying $400 to watch the best tennis players in the world duking it out on RLA. But spending $600 or more to wander around Melbourne Park with 50,000 other people in 40 Deg C weather is not my idea of fun ... especially when many of those other people are there mainly for the social experience rather than the tennis and especially when the Beach is only a few kms away. LOL.



You paid for a wonderful lifelong memory which more than justifies the cost. Even more so when you consider you were witnessing two of the greatest players to have graced the sport playing in the Final of one of the four greatest Tournaments in the history of Tennis.

Frankly, I would happily pay the $20,000 odd to have had the same experience. But I would probably be the (Australian) exception to the rule at this point. Most Aussies with $20,000 USD to burn would probably spend several weeks holidaying in Bali or other parts of SE Asia .. or even a couple of weeks in Europe or the USA.



TA's plan has always been to allow some people into the event. Originally it was going to be 50% Capacity per day, then it went to 25% Capacity. But now they are talking about 50% Capacity again. I think Tiley will be pushing for even more than that.

But International Travel is highly compromised at the moment. So it will be mainly local Australian fans. The way things are in Melbourne at the moment, I think we will see 50% Capacity if there is no Third Wave. And that will be an excellent result.
Click to expand...
@Karma Tennis Great post, thank you for taking the time to respond! +10... Simon and Garfunkel in the States was $300 the last time I saw them in Vegas. Times are changing, now the poor get fat.

I have been to Australia only twice in my life and loved it, especially Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP, the Great Barrier Reef and Cape Tribulation in Queensland.

This is off topic, but thanks for responding. :)

australian-flag.gif
 
Karma Tennis said:
I believe that Novak and Roger will come to Melbourne regardless. The Appearance Fees they will receive are just too good to refuse. If the AO 2021 is staged, they will certainly play unless they get sick.

I'm not sure that Rafa will come. I think he will focus on RG next year.
Click to expand...
Focusing on Roland Garros in January does not help you win Roland Garros, it just leads to a lack of match practice and huge problems for Nadal's body.

The only player we know will play the AO for certain, is Nadal, because he said his body had huge problems in 2020 because when he doesn't play tennis for long periods it makes his knee problems 10 times worse. He struggled to return to tennis and almost missed Rome/Roland Garros because of the stiffness in his legs.

Whereas Djokovic said "The Australian Open is January. The Australian Open is not April". So Djokovic may withdraw if the AO is played later than January, whereas Nadal is desperate for tennis and will play the AO whenever they schedule it.
Plus Nadal was only against the US Open because New York was rife with disease, whereas Australia is the opposite and hardly has any cases of covid, or none in Victoria.
 
NADALalot said:
The only player we know will play the AO for certain, is Nadal,
Click to expand...

... unless he and his wife announce that they are expecting a Baby? LOL

No one knows for sure who is coming to Australia at this stage. Novak, Roger and Serena are expected because they have verbally confirmed it mainly because they will be receiving large Appearance Fees. I do not believe Rafa has done the same. In fact, Rafa in his most recent Press Conference focused more on what the Victorian Government is doing about the situation rather than Tennis Australia or the ATP. That could be interpreted in several ways.

Seriously though, I expect Rafa will come because of the significance of the AO to his statistics. In the unlikley event that he were to win the Title, he joins the elite group of Double Career GRAND SLAM winners. No doubt Toni is harping on about that. But his family ties are very strong and we do not know what they are thinking overall.
 
BeatlesFan said:
I have been to Australia only twice in my life and loved it, especially Uluru-Kata Tjuta NP, the Great Barrier Reef and Cape Tribulation in Queensland.

This is off topic, but thanks for responding. :)

australian-flag.gif
Click to expand...

Thank You @BeatlesFan ... LOL, you've seen more of Australia than most Australians have. The Great Centre and the Reef are fantastic places to visit.

As for our current flag ... I love it apart from that other flag in the top corner. It's long overdue for replacement with something a little more relevant.

1280px-Australian_Flag_with_Aboriginal_Flag.svg.png
 
Karma Tennis said:
... unless he and his wife announce that they are expecting a Baby? LOL

No one knows for sure who is coming to Australia at this stage. Novak, Roger and Serena are expected because they have verbally confirmed it mainly because they will be receiving large Appearance Fees. I do not believe Rafa has done the same. In fact, Rafa in his most recent Press Conference focused more on what the Victorian Government is doing about the situation rather than Tennis Australia or the ATP. That could be interpreted in several ways.

Seriously though, I expect Rafa will come because of the significance of the AO to his statistics. In the unlikley event that he were to win the Title, he joins the elite group of Double Career GRAND SLAM winners. No doubt Toni is harping on about that. But his family ties are very strong and we do not know what they are thinking overall.
Click to expand...
That baby won't arrive in 2021 AO, if they are only just announcing it.
Rafa and Toni don't see eye-to-eye, and are known for arguing.
I think Rafa would trust the input of Carlos Moya a lot more.
But nobody is wiser than Rafael Nadal anyway, as we hear Toni makes dumb comments regularly, while Nadal says the smart things.
 
OK, so the local Murdoch Press is reporting Craig Tiley has stated "Cancellation of the AO is still on the table as an option".

The Murdoch Press tends to like to beat things up so I would take it with a grain of salt. Of course it is still one of the options, but probably the most unlikely option at this stage.

However, I can see Tiley threatening such an option to bluff the Victorian State Government. But I think he fails to realise how strong the Victorian Premier is when it comes to the current COVID situation here. I don't think it is a battle that Tiley would win.
 
I saw an advertisement for upcoming sporting events of the local broadcaster over the weekend.

Multiple AO clips, but only one player shown. Guess who :unsure:
 
NADALalot said:
That baby won't arrive in 2021 AO, if they are only just announcing it.
Click to expand...

So what? Any excuse will do. That is as good an excuse as anything else. And is likely to be accepted by most Nadal fans in Australia.

Heck most of us would be rapt for him and his wife if that were the case.
 
Karma Tennis said:
OK, so the local Murdoch Press is reporting Craig Tiley has stated "Cancellation of the AO is still on the table as an option".

The Murdoch Press tends to like to beat things up so I would take it with a grain of salt. Of course it is still one of the options, but probably the most unlikely option at this stage.

However, I can see Tiley threatening such an option to bluff the Victorian State Government. But I think he fails to realise how strong the Victorian Premier is when it comes to the current COVID situation here. I don't think it is a battle that Tiley would win.
Click to expand...

If true, that would not only be stupid sabre rattling by Tiley, but also a rare moment of accurate reporting by News Ltd.
 
Karma Tennis said:
So what? Any excuse will do. That is as good an excuse as anything else. And is likely to be accepted by most Nadal fans in Australia.

Heck most of us would be rapt for him and his wife if that were the case.
Click to expand...
Nadal is desperate for tennis, he is scared of his body breaking down during months of inactivity as happened in 2021.
He had to take painkillers just to play Roland Garros.
 
Karma Tennis said:
OK, so the local Murdoch Press is reporting Craig Tiley has stated "Cancellation of the AO is still on the table as an option".

The Murdoch Press tends to like to beat things up so I would take it with a grain of salt. Of course it is still one of the options, but probably the most unlikely option at this stage.

However, I can see Tiley threatening such an option to bluff the Victorian State Government. But I think he fails to realise how strong the Victorian Premier is when it comes to the current COVID situation here. I don't think it is a battle that Tiley would win.
Click to expand...
wait ... really craig said cancellation of the AO is still on the table ??
 
Karma Tennis said:
OK, so the local Murdoch Press is reporting Craig Tiley has stated "Cancellation of the AO is still on the table as an option".

The Murdoch Press tends to like to beat things up so I would take it with a grain of salt. Of course it is still one of the options, but probably the most unlikely option at this stage.

However, I can see Tiley threatening such an option to bluff the Victorian State Government. But I think he fails to realise how strong the Victorian Premier is when it comes to the current COVID situation here. I don't think it is a battle that Tiley would win.
Click to expand...
what do you think ? karma tennis
do you see 2021 AO bening cancelled ?
 
While The Age is not that much better than its competitors these days, I would have more confidence in what it is saying. It includes a statement from Tiley.

www.theage.com.au

Tennis Australia confident Australian Open details will be finalised 'very soon'

Tennis Australia has moved to allay fears that next year's Australian Open could be cancelled amid protracted talks with the Victorian government over quarantine conditions.
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au

The other rag is suggesting the players will have to fetch their own tennis balls during Matches because of a likely shortage of Ball kids during the event. That probably wouldn't affect the matches on RLA, MCA, MA and the Showcourts. So the Big Players would be fine.
 
Karma Tennis said:
While The Age is not that much better than its competitors these days, I would have more confidence in what it is saying. It includes a statement from Tiley.

www.theage.com.au

Tennis Australia confident Australian Open details will be finalised 'very soon'

Tennis Australia has moved to allay fears that next year's Australian Open could be cancelled amid protracted talks with the Victorian government over quarantine conditions.
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au

The other rag is suggesting the players will have to fetch their own tennis balls during Matches because of a likely shortage of Ball kids during the event. That probably wouldn't affect the matches on RLA, MCA, MA and the Showcourts. So the Big Players would be fine.
Click to expand...

Be fair, Fairfax is not what it used to be, but it's still quite a lot better than News.
 
junior74 said:
The only thing I can guarantee is that Federer is not reaching the final. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Well I hope Nadal is on Federer's side of the draw so Nadal gets 2-day break before the Final.
 
skypadq said:
karma tennis , do you belive todd 's word ?
Click to expand...

Well as our fellow TTW Poster @Bartelby has kindly pointed out, Todd Woodbridge is one of the key Tennis Hosts for Nine Network Australia, the TV Media Broadcaster who holds the Australian Broadcast Rights for the Australian Open for the next few years.

Very unlikely that Todd would be making such statements unless he was confident.
 
Rumors that Doha is pushing hard for the right to organise the AO qualies from 1-7 January.
If the Aussie government decide to cancel the Main event also, i believe that the Quatarian sheikhs would be more than happy to provide hospitality for the best tennis players in the world in the second part of January and organise the first Slam of the year 2021.
 
Karma Tennis said:
Novak, Roger and Serena are expected because they have verbally confirmed it mainly because they will be receiving large Appearance Fees. I do not believe Rafa has done the same.
Click to expand...

I wish to correct my statement above regarding Rafa. He has committed to attending the Australian Open in 2021 if it is staged.
 
Nadal_Django said:
Rumors that Doha is pushing hard for the right to organise the AO qualies from 1-7 January.
Click to expand...

Well that is nothing new. Tennis Australia has regularly run an AO Qualifying Event in China over the past several years.

The rumours mention Doha, Dubai and Singapore as possible locations. No one in Australia will care. Australian players won't care if they don't have to quarantine wherever.

Nadal_Django said:
i believe that the Quatarian sheikhs would be more than happy to provide hospitality for the best tennis players in the world in the second part of January and organise the first Slam of the year 2021.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they would. However, there is absolutely no way the ITF would agree to that unless Tennis Australia approves. And given the Political differences, the chances of TA agreeing are about the same as the chances of Federer and Djokovic playing their matches in the middle of the Middle East daytime.
 
skypadq said:
what this tell us ?
Click to expand...

This suggests the Victorian Goverment has agreed to let the AO 2021 go ahead at Melbourne Park subject to the virus situation remaining unchanged in Victoria AND subject to the international arrivals doing a mandatory 14 Day Quarantine period on arrival,.

So it looks like TA has convinced the Victorian Government to let the event go ahead with International players probably in early February.

Now it is just a matter of TA receiving approval from the ATP and WTA to permit its players to play.

It will get interesting if the ATP and WTA do not agree with the conditions and recomment their players not attend the event. But that won't be the Victorian Government's problem. And it won't be TAs problem either. It will probably stage the Tournament anyway because it has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the TV Rights Holder already. If it decided to cancel the Tournament, the TV Rights Holder will want to renegotiate its deal and probably require quite a bit of financial compensation.
 
Nadal_Django said:
Rumors that Doha is pushing hard for the right to organise the AO qualies from 1-7 January.
If the Aussie government decide to cancel the Main event also, i believe that the Quatarian sheikhs would be more than happy to provide hospitality for the best tennis players in the world in the second part of January and organise the first Slam of the year 2021.
Click to expand...
I was going to ask about the Doha tournament. All the paranoia re: Covid is centralized in Australia but we're forgetting this random tournament that for whatever reason is placed right at the beginning of the Aussie summer swing. Given you're talking about them pushing to organize AO qualies, I take it the actual tournament in Doha isn't taking place? If it is, it would be great for the players to have at least 1 warm up event for the AO.
 
junior74 said:
That's actually Federer's only chance of reaching the final ;)
Click to expand...
Well, Federer was up a double-break in the 1st Set vs. Djokovic at this year's AO, and only Federer's poor health allowed Djokovic to win.
And we all saw what happened at Wimbledon last year, and of course Federer smoked Djokovic at the ATP Finals last year.
So its pretty obvious Djokovic is losing his edge over Federer......and Federer will have his chances at the AO, as he seems to go deep every year.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
NADALalot said:
Well, Federer was up a double-break in the 1st Set vs. Djokovic at this year's AO, and only Federer's poor health allowed Djokovic to win.
And we all saw what happened at Wimbledon last year, so its pretty obvious Djokovic is losing his edge over Federer.
Click to expand...

I think nothing is obvious, apart from the steady decline of all three. The tour has never been up for grabs like this. But there is no one there.
 
junior74 said:
I think nothing is obvious, apart from the steady decline of all three. The tour has never been up for grabs like this. But there is no one there.
Click to expand...
True, they are all declining, except for Nadal at Roland Garros.
Heck even Nadal at London hasn't slipped, beat Tsitsipas last year, and served for the match at 63 54 vs. Medvedev this year.
 
NADALalot said:
True, they are all declining, except for Nadal at Roland Garros.
Heck even Nadal at London hasn't slipped, beat Tsitsipas last year, and served for the match at 63 54 vs. Medvedev this year.
Click to expand...

Nadal at Roland Garros is ombeleebel. No other word can describe it :)
 
junior74 said:
I think nothing is obvious, apart from the steady decline of all three. The tour has never been up for grabs like this. But there is no one there.
Click to expand...
Roddick was discussing this on a podcast last week and was brutally honest about this point. He said (paraphrasing): "I just shake my head at the thought of guys like Becker, Edberg, Sampras or Andre coming up in the past 3 years. The only one of the big three in their 30's who would still have been winning any slam would be Rafa at the FO and possibly Roger at Wimbledon. The new guys just aren't doing it. Maybe they can't, I dunno."
 
BeatlesFan said:
Roddick was discussing this on a podcast last week and was brutally honest about this point. He said (paraphrasing): "I just shake my head at the thought of guys like Becker, Edberg, Sampras or Andre coming up in the past 3 years. The only one of the big three in their 30's who would still have been winning any slam would be Rafa at the FO and possibly Roger at Wimbledon. The new guys just aren't doing it. Maybe they can't, I dunno."
Click to expand...

Spot on!
Those who cling on to "tennis is evolving" have their heads too far up someone's arse, or have trolled for so long it somehow becomes real.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Australian Open 2021 cancelled...
Replies
7
Views
798
Breakpointerer
Breakpointerer
guanzishou
Craig Tiley confirms Novak hasn't been given medical exemptions and must be fully vaccinated to play AO 22
2 3
Replies
102
Views
4K
MotoboXer
MotoboXer
clayqueen
Tennis Australia tells players that 2021 Australian Open will be February 8-21
2
Replies
92
Views
4K
aditya123
aditya123
Joseph_K
2021 Australian Open Already Under Threat
Replies
1
Views
257
Cashman
Cashman
Aussie Darcy
Australian Open Director concerned about Bernard Tomic's 'health and wellbeing' and offers support
Replies
19
Views
1K
Meles
Meles
Back
Top