Professional tennis has always been influenced by the seismic events of the world in which it operates.
Four days after a local COVID-19 situation, despite widespread uncertainty, the world’s best players remain gathered together on an island in the Asia-Pacific. The last time they staged a Grand Slam – back in the fall of 2020 – something miraculous happened. An unseeded Polish teenager ran the table at Roland Garros with an almost frightening fortnight of focus.
For everyone involved in this Australian Open, that’s precisely what it’s going to take.
It promises to be another volatile and wildly unpredictable event. With so many top players in extended action the week going in, with some quarantine questions still unanswered, nothing is unimaginable. Still, the goal remains the same: A victory here in 2021’s first major would be the best possible start to the Porsche Race to Shenzhen.
February 8, 2021
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (AP) – Ash Barty didn’t play competitive tennis in almost a year. It seems like she didn’t miss a beat.
Top-ranked Barty cashed in on her first championship point against Garbine Muguruza in the Yarra Valley Classic and Daniil Medvedev clinched the ATP Cup title for Russia within seconds of each other yesterday as the tuneup tournaments for the Australian Open were culminating the eve of the year’s first major.
After a hectic preparation, which included 14-day quarantines under strict COVID-19 pandemic regulations for the 1,200 or so players, coaches and staff who flew in for the Australian Open, the warmup week of tournaments was being capped with five finals and two semifinals.
A shoulder injury that forced her out of a pre-Australian Open showdown with Ash Barty is no cause for concern for the 23-time major singles champion, two days out from another Melbourne Park campaign.
Injuries Mount As Osaka, Serena, Kenin Struggle Ahead Of Aussie Open By Tristan LAVALETTE
02/06/21 AT 1:08 AM
World number three Naomi Osaka joined Serena Williams and Simona Halep with injury niggles ahead of the Australian Open Saturday as defending champion Sofia Kenin blamed her groin strain on spending two weeks in coronavirus quarantine.
The season s first Grand Slam has had an unusual build-up after the pandemic torpedoed much of last year s schedule and gave players only a week to play warm-up tournaments after their mandatory quarantine in Australia.
Japan s Osaka, the US Open champion and 2019 Australian Open winner, withdrew from her Gippsland Trophy semi-final against Elise Mertens, blaming a long-standing shoulder problem.
With the year’s first major starting on Monday, Serena Williams may be better resting. AP/File
MELBOURNE: Serena Williams withdrew from an Australian Open tune-up tournament citing a right shoulder injury on Friday within hours of setting up a semi-final match against top-ranked Ash Barty.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion usually doesn’t play in a tournament in the week before a Grand Slam event, but made an exception before last year’s US Open and for this Australian Open because of all the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 39-year-old American was playing her first tournament since withdrawing from the French Open before her second-round match because of an Achilles tendon injury in October. She, like all players traveling to Australia for the tournament, had to quarantine for 14 days and had limited practice during that time.