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Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 13, 2021 General view during the third round of the match between Czech Republic Karolina Muchova and Czech Republic Karolina Pliskova. The tournament continues without crowds today after the state of Victoria was placed under a quick lockdown since Friday to contain a new outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) REUTERS / Jaimi Joy
MELBOURNE – Day six of the Australian Open is typically one of the busiest of the Grand Slam fortnight, but there was an eerie silence around the Melbourne Park venue as the game began on Saturday.
A five-day snap shutdown to try to contain a COVID-19 outbreak went into effect just before midnight on Friday, restricting Victoria’s six million residents to their homes and excluding tennis fans.
The shops, bars and restaurants of the place, which were usually packed with fans, were closed and the only noise was the chatter drowned out by the masks of the workers considered essential: the police, the security guards, the match officials and the media.
Tennis players also enter that official classification for the next five days in Melbourne and 20 of them returned to work in front of the empty stands in two singles and four doubles matches on Saturday.
For the duration of the lockdown, players will be transported between a Melbourne Park “bubble” and their residences, where they will endure the same restrictions as everyone else.
The players, perhaps aware of the backlash in the host city that followed some complaints about restrictions in the early days of their pre-tournament hotel quarantine, have accepted the shutdown with equanimity.
However, they still miss fans.
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 13, 2021 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in action during her third round match against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic REUTERS / Jaimi Joy
“I was so happy yesterday morning when I thought I would be playing in front of a huge crowd,” Karolina Muchova said after her win over Karolina Pliskova on Saturday at the Rod Laver Arena, which generally has nearly 15,000 fans.
“Unfortunately now for five days, but I hope they come back. It’s definitely better with the fans. “
There was an anti-closure protest involving some 200-300 people outside the gates of Melbourne Park on Friday night, but most of the people of the city also seem to have accepted that the sacrifice is necessary.
“I’m a huge tennis fan so it’s bittersweet,” Desi Day told Reuters late on Friday. “I know it has to happen, but at the same time I am very disappointed.”
Organizers expect fans, although restricted to 25,000 per day, to return to the stands starting Thursday for the semi-finals and finals.
Only one new locally acquired case was confirmed in the 24 hours to Saturday morning, Victoria health authorities said, bringing the number of active cases in the state to 20.
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