Thirty-two players have embarked on the Grand Slam journey, winning the route by gaining a certificate and preparing to compete at Australia Open 2021, to be held at Melbourne Park from 8 to 21 February.
Sixteen women enter the two-time Australian Open and Roland Garros doubles Timea Babos (HUN), 2012 Australian Open quarterback and former No.1 world doubles player and Roland Garros 2012 finisher Sara Errani (ITA), 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist and US Open 2020 quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) and inspirational British star Francesca Jones take the trip down below after getting in Dubai.
On the men’s side are the 17-year-old ATP Newcomer of the Year qualifications Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), old world No.12 Viktor Troicki (SRB), USA’s Michael Mmoh, Elias Ymer (SWE) and Australia Bernard Tomic (Qld) has gained their top AO drawing points after they were admitted Doha.
Hosting open Australia offshore – with the women in Dubai and the men in Doha – was a first for the competition and an innovative solution to some of the supply challenges facing the outbreak of the pandemic.
“We greatly appreciate the help of our friends and colleagues in Dubai and Qatar in hosting the Australian Open 2021 due to the current travel restrictions. Australia, ”Australian Open Competition Director Craig Tiley said.
“I would like to thank the Brandplus team of Bharat Godkhindi, Kay Godkhindi and Sagari Godkhindi and their staff for organizing women worthy of Dubai, and the Doha team of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Karim Alami and the Qatar Tennis Federation have led the charge to help us set up the men’s event.
“From the beginning of our AO design we wanted to run warranties and provide competition and employment opportunities for the players. It’s great to see 32 of them come forward and embark on the Grand Slam tour. I look forward to seeing them all in Melbourne for the Australian Open. “
Six other women and six men travel to Australia as Lucky Losers and take 14 days of compulsory quarantine with the rest of the international players.
COVIDSafe’s strict protocols are in place for the Australian Open as follows:
· All players must return a negative test before touring Australia
· 15 flights, none with a capacity of more than 25 per cent, will take players into Australia in a 36-hour period from Thursday 14 January
· Everyone will be tested on arrival and individually to get results
· Once a negative result is returned players can train in a tightly controlled and supervised environment for five hours each day
· Players and their teams are tested daily during quarantine
The Australian Open lottery will take place on Thursday 4 February.