The head of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, considers that the organization of the 2022 edition of the Grand Slam has been “10 times” more difficult than this year, since the highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 is has installed in Australia.
Tiley and his team made a herculean effort to organize the tournament safely in February, when Australia still had its borders closed, and spent a fortune on biosecurity measures to reassure the local community. Twelve months later, things haven’t been easier for Tennis Australia, with Omicron spreading across the country just as the first players are about to arrive for the pre-tournament prep events at Melbourne Park.
“2022 has been 10 times more difficult than 2021. It was a walk in the park compared to this one,” Tiley said. “2021 was tough, but it wasn’t easy. There are a lot of variables. It’s something new, but you wake up in the morning with your team and you just hope they hold out,” he added.
While the 1,000 players and staff who arrived from abroad were quarantined for two weeks for the 2021 edition, the 3,300 who will come for next year’s tournament will be free to tour the city once they have tested negative.
PCR test. All visitors to the Melbourne Park venue in January must be vaccinated or have a medical exemption granted by the Australian health authorities. This, in itself, will be a management challenge, but the sellout will offer Tennis Australia the opportunity to recoup some of the A $ 100 million (US $ 72.2 million) it lost in the 15 months surrounding the tournament.
2021 tournament. Rafael Nadal recently made his comeback to professional tennis this month after a long hiatus. The Spaniard had exited the tour before the US Open and made his return in Abu Dhabi.
Rafa made his comeback
In an interview with Argentinian outlet Filo News, Diego Schwartzman talked about the Big Three in tennis.
He shared how he had to play with Djokovic, Federer, and Rafael Nadal a lot when he moved into the top 20 and 10 ranks. Then, Schwartzman talks about Rafael Nadal. He praises Nadal’s dominance on clay- “On clay, it is almost impossible to follow the rhythm and dominance that he (Nadal) has,” he shares.
“Rafa is the one who imposes the most respect on you when entering the field,” the 29-year-old shares. “It is like you enter more defeated”. Moreover, Schwartzman even compares Nadal’s attitude as an opponent to that of Roger Federer.
“Federer being so relaxed, sometimes he gives you a game,” he shares. On the other hand, it is an entirely different story against El Nino. “You enter the Nadal match, and it seems that everything from the first point to the last point, is the last in his career.
It imposes so much respect on you,” he expresses. “It is very difficult to sustain what he does from minute zero”.
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