Players will no longer accept strict quarantine at the Australian Open, tournament director Craig Tiley says

Tennis players will not want to undergo a two-week hotel quarantine ahead of the 2022 Australian Open, tournament director Craig Tiley said. Riley, however, said he was confident the tournament would be a success.

All players participating in this year’s Australian Open had to spend 14 days in quarantine before they were allowed out to play. The players made a number of complaints but went through with it but that seems unlikely to happen this year, Tiley said.

“Whether or not the playing group accepts that remains to be seen. At this point, in our initial conversations with them, that’s not something they’re going to be open to, simply because that’s not what they’re currently doing around the world,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW radio on Wednesday.

“If the conditions are as they are today, we may not be able to get the players to accept them.”

The Australian Formula One Grand Prix and MotoGP round, both due to take place in the state of Victoria, were cancelled for the second successive year on Tuesday because of the logistical problems caused by the border controls.

Victoria’s Sports Minister Martin Pakula said on Tuesday he was confident the country’s vaccine roll-out, which has been one of the slowest in the developed world, would be accelerated to the extent that restrictions would not impact the Grand Slam.

“I’m very confident that the Australian Open will proceed,” Pakula told reporters.

Tiley said the professional tours had agreed to hold off on agreeing their 2022 schedules until the end of September to allow Australian Open organisers to get an indication from government of what the entry requirements might be in January.