Fedinkum
Legend
I am definitely torn as an Australian tennis fan (for real this time...)
I wanted to see the pros here but it is a risk...big risk...took us a lot of efforts to stay clear from Covid. Let's see how this one plays out.
‘Australian Open won’t happen under current restrictions,’ warns Craig Tiley
- Thread starter UnforcedTerror
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I wanted to see the pros here but it is a risk...big risk...took us a lot of efforts to stay clear from Covid. Let's see how this one plays out.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
Yes, but half of them are fine (the fairer gender!). The same goes for France tooBeautiful country! Full of Australians though...
TennisHockey
Rookie
Why?
Let's be real, Fed has little chance of winning AO2021. Djokovic is the clear cut favourite to win so Fed would rather the tourney just not be played. Club 20 is getting a bit crowded ya know?
To a lesser extent, Nadal as well. But Nadal has a better shot at winning compared to Fed.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
Slowtwitcher
Legend
Yes, but half of them are fine (the fairer gender!). The same goes for France too
I know you're going for the sexist joke, but I do find "toxic" qualities in Australian men that I don't find in Australian women.
KineticChain
Hall of Fame
the names covid... joe covid******** fans right now
USO
Banned
You think the beach exists only in Australia? Ever heard of my state, California?
That's not a beach.
Cashman
Hall of Fame
Yeah, but you've got to share the coastline with a lot more people. I loved California, but I could never afford to live anywhere convenient to the beach in a decent sized city.
It's normal to feel threatened by superior specimens of masculinity.
Slowtwitcher
Legend
Fedinkum
Legend
US & France are not in great shape right now. So even though their organizers might have done a good job of making the slams happened, we will never know their impact to the country's covid situation.
On the positive side, they were the guinea pig of a better ran tennis tournaments, so AO has the benefit to learn a lot from them in terms of the health, operation, and finance aspects.
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Slowtwitcher
Legend
It's normal to feel threatened by superior specimens of masculinity.
Neanderthal levels of masculinity
Karma Tennis
Legend
Tennis Australia has just announced the Victorian State Government will not permit International Players to Quarantine in Victoria in December.
This just threw a huge spanner in the works and places the entire Summer Tennis season in Australia into doubt.
Earlier in the day, the Premier of Victoria said he believed the AO 2021 would still proceed. However, everything is now in limbo and it is possible that if the AO does go ahead it will be predominantly filled with local Players.\
Victoria has just announced its 18th consecutive Day of zero new Positive tests. Meanwhile South Australia are about to go into a Hard Lockdown due to a new break out of virus infections there. This will have an effect on the Victorian Government's decision making process heading towards Christmas.
This just threw a huge spanner in the works and places the entire Summer Tennis season in Australia into doubt.
Earlier in the day, the Premier of Victoria said he believed the AO 2021 would still proceed. However, everything is now in limbo and it is possible that if the AO does go ahead it will be predominantly filled with local Players.\
Victoria has just announced its 18th consecutive Day of zero new Positive tests. Meanwhile South Australia are about to go into a Hard Lockdown due to a new break out of virus infections there. This will have an effect on the Victorian Government's decision making process heading towards Christmas.
skypadq
Hall of Fame
really ? wow ... great !
Karma Tennis
Legend
Our Nick Kyrgios might get to win a Major Title after all. LOL
TA will be desperate for at least the AO to go ahead because it no longer has Insurance to cover the Event being Cancelled. Any watered down event will cause TA to take a pretty substantial financial hit with regard to Ticket Sales Revenues and possibly Broadcasting Rights.
FrontHeadlock
Hall of Fame
TA diabolically trying to get Barty an AO title.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
My sense is that this is still under negotiation, so do you have a link? Warning: steer clear of Murdoch publications as they state speculation as fact.
Karma Tennis
Legend
The ATP has apparently informed the Players. Some of them are already talking about it on Social Media.
The Tennis Channel has already discussed it in the last hour or so.
I re-iterate, this is not about the status of the AO 2021, it is about whether International Players will be permitted to enter Victoria in December !! (I would be extremely surprised if the AO 2021 is cancelled. TA is running a UTR Pro Event in Melbourne at the moment. It could easily run a closed AO 2021 if it was forced to.)
7news.com.au
The Tennis Channel has already discussed it in the last hour or so.
I re-iterate, this is not about the status of the AO 2021, it is about whether International Players will be permitted to enter Victoria in December !! (I would be extremely surprised if the AO 2021 is cancelled. TA is running a UTR Pro Event in Melbourne at the moment. It could easily run a closed AO 2021 if it was forced to.)
Australian Open chaos as hundreds of players blocked from entering Victoria
New details have emerged after Daniel Andrews' dramatic decision painted a bleak picture of the summer of tennis.
7news.com.au
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
The question here is whether the ATP Cup will run at all. If it doesn't the players don't have to turn up before January.
The players only have to enter Victoria in December for that event. The ATP Cup is probably a non-starter even if it all ran in Melbourne.
But 'new challenges' is not definitive and negotiations seem ongoing.
The players only have to enter Victoria in December for that event. The ATP Cup is probably a non-starter even if it all ran in Melbourne.
But 'new challenges' is not definitive and negotiations seem ongoing.
The ATP has apparently informed the Players. Some of them are already talking about it on Social Media.
The Tennis Channel has already discussed it in the last hour or so.
I re-iterate, this is not about the status of the AO 2021, it is about whether International Players will be permitted to enter Victoria in December !!
Australian Open chaos as hundreds of players blocked from entering Victoria
New details have emerged after Daniel Andrews' dramatic decision painted a bleak picture of the summer of tennis.
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Karma Tennis
Legend
That's just plain ridiculous. There will always be an Australian Open / Australian Championships Tennis Tournament. It doesn't really matter whether it is a Major or not. The Tournament will continue to run, regardless.
Yeah. That is probably right. The question from there is whether a lot of international players would be prepared to come in early January, spend 14 days in Quarantine, and then immediately play the AO without any preparation.
It is unlikely the Victorian State Government will allow players in Quarantine to train, even if it is in a Bubble. That is the big question at the moment.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Why would they not be allowed to train so long as they stay within their bubble?
Karma Tennis
Legend
Because it has already been demonstrated that Bubbles are not effective in preventing the spread of the virus unless EVERY participant is contained within the Bubble. This is difficult enough to achieve with Team Based sports. When you consider an individual sport like Tennis which involves players and their personal entourages, it would almost be impossible for a Bubble to work.
Karma Tennis
Legend
Not really. There is a huge difference between Cricket and Tennis. The Cricket will involve about 30 competitors max in a closed environment. And the Test Match only runs for 5 Days maximum between the hours of about 10am and 6pm.
wouldn't be shocked if Sydney or Brisbane offer to host it very soon
duaneeo
Legend
I know this will be a tough concept to understand, but not everyone is afraid of getting the virus.
Fedinkum
Legend
A bit more details here with Tennis Australia doubling down with Melbourne to host all AO lead up tournaments.
That is a gamble if Melbourne has a 3rd wave but I give them credit for taking a decisive bold move.
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/12886392
That is a gamble if Melbourne has a 3rd wave but I give them credit for taking a decisive bold move.
https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/12886392
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Disagree. So long as the team is small (as is the norm for most players) and have remained in contact with each other and with no-one else apart from close family, it should work. If players are not allowed to train they won't turn up. I know I wouldn't.
Karma Tennis
Legend
I don't think you appreciate the pressure on the Victorian Government to maintain the Zero numbers.
Tennis really doesn't factor into being that popular a sport in Victoria anymore. Certainly not to the point the Victorian Government would permit it to go ahead even if it thinks for one second it could lead to a Third Wave of the virus here.
I don't think anyone is afraid of catching the virus. But a lot of people are afraid of developing COVID-19 which can lead to some very nasty health issues and possibly even death.
Nadal_Django
Legend
Haha, the Slam race is becoming joke right now.
Nadal_Django
Legend
How many new cases per day these jokers have now? Zero!? One!? Scary stuff...
Scary stuff...
Karma Tennis
Legend
Haha, the Slam race is becoming joke right now.
Like I said, as much as I love Tennis, in the overall scheme of things it really isn't that important. It's just a Game! The world would survive quite happily without most Sport. It did so for millions of years.
How many new cases per day does these jokers have now. Zero!? One!?
Tell that to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19 in 2020!
I guess you have no idea what it takes to get to Zero cases. The real jokers are the ones who want to go back to living "Normal" lives - whatever that meant. Unfortunately, that "Normal" is gone forever. Will take a lot of people a while for that to sink in. But they will get there eventually.
You do realise that Tennis Australia's primary interest in staging Tennis Tournaments is to make money for their immediate Stakeholders. But here's the thing, when they do make a lot of money out of Tournaments like the AO, they keep most of it for themselves. They don't actually use much of it to help develop the sport in Australia.
You may be amazed to know that most of the people who are directly employed by Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria aren't that passionate about Tennis. They are just people working for a corporation that happens to run a Sport. Financial Profit is the primary motivation. For most employees of TA and TV, career advancement is the main goal. (Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but they are few and far between.)
irishnadalfan1983
Hall of Fame
Looks like you are based down in Australia....I see international rugby matches on the last few weekends? Have they got full crowds or not do you know?
irishnadalfan1983
Hall of Fame
Anyone know is the AO Open worth that much money to Victoria/Australia? I don’t them see them bothering unless the money is HUGE.
Karma Tennis
Legend
Yep. There has been some International Rugby in Australia recently. Currently the Rugby League State of Origin is also being conducted. And The Australian Football League recently completed its 2020 season. Crowds of up to 40,000 attended all these events.
A Test Cricket Series against India is planned for this summer. The matches played in Melbourne are preparing for crowds up to 25,000 people.
But these events are different to Tennis. The people come into a stadium, stay seated throughout most of the event which usually only lasts for a couple of hours, and then leave.
Tennis is different in people can wander around everywhere unhindered and can come into direct contact with large numbers of other people over the course of entire days.
Fedinkum
Legend
You would think the telecast right still worth something to the organiser. But to the Melbourne government, they might care less becasue the international tourist money will definitely not happen. Keeping the State Covid free has more political interests to the government than hosting a half baked sport event.
Karma Tennis
Legend
The USTA ran the US Open without fans.
The AO is likely to go ahead even if there are no fans as long as the Victorian Government permits it.
This !
irishnadalfan1983
Hall of Fame
Fair enough - I was thinking more of tennis players arriving, etc. Not so much the crowds. Also I meant rugby union! Is there a particular reason it is being reported they can’t arrive in December but they can in January? To be honest it seems like a lot of hassle for Australia to run event based upon the fact they are adamant on keeping virus out of country....Not sure it seems worth it financially...
Lew II
G.O.A.T.
Yeah basically Djokovic's two best slams AO and WI are being cancelled, while Nadal's two best slams RG and UO are still going.Haha, the Slam race is becoming joke right now.
Karma Tennis
Legend
Yes. The international matches were Rugby Matches (IE Rugby UNION matches). In Australia, when we simply say Rugby, we are talking about Rugby UNION. Rugby League is either called "Rugby League" or simply "League". Australia recently defeated the All Blacks here in Australia.
I think the reason why the local Government doesn't want to deal with lots of International Visitors in December is because it wants the locals to celebrate a Christmas period that is as close to "Normal" as possible. After all the hard work to get back to Zero cases, it does not want to risk Christmas being stuffed up.
Make no mistake, unless there is a Third Wave, it is virtually certain that TA will run an Australian Open. Competitive tennis is now being played in Melbourne. It will run a National Championships in January, even if it is just local Australian Players. Running a small Nationals Tournament will not cost TA a lot of money and will keep Tennis front of mind especially among local players and local fans.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
The Victorian Government is saying quite clearly that they want the AO to run even if it is not yet a done deal, but the ATP Cup beforehand makes the quarantine process too difficult.
So the ATP Cup is definitely not happening in Melbourne, and quarantine processes make it impossible elsewhere in Australia, so it will probably have to be postponed.
So the ATP Cup is definitely not happening in Melbourne, and quarantine processes make it impossible elsewhere in Australia, so it will probably have to be postponed.
Fedinkum
Legend
Someone is being a little too dramatic...
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
But you’re scared of your government? I mean if its Trump I can understand..
Karma Tennis
Legend
The ATP Cup is a Mickey Mouse event. Tennis Australia doesn't make that much money out of it. The original Broadcast Deal done by TA with Nine Network Australia didn't really factor in the ATP Cup event so it was really a bonus event for Nine.
The AO is the jewel in the crown. TA will do everything in its power to run it. It won't matter who plays in it. It will be played even if it is a smaller field and / or most of the players are Australians.
weakera
Talk Tennis Guru
History won't remember or care, sadly. The numbers stand and the context is generally forgotten.
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