All change for Aussie — but Brits are still losing

THIS year’s Australian Open ends three weeks later than usual but got under way yesterday a day earlier than originally planned.

This strange situation is explained by the qualifying event kicking off more than 7,000 miles from Melbourne, i n Doha and Dubai, with the survivors from its three rounds being allowed to fly on to the main event and its two-week quarantine period.

In a glimpse of normality, British tennis’s f i rst two entrants both l ost i n the opening round. Naiktha Bains and Jay Clarke went down in straight sets against lowerranked opposition. Three more are in action today — Liam Broady, Francesca Jones and Harriet Dart — while Katie Swan faces an anxious wait. Just short of automatic entry, she has flown to Dubai to be on standby and will step in today if there is a last-minute withdrawal.

The last two Grand Slams to take place in the pandemic, the US and French Opens, dispensed with qualifying. The Australians, however, were keen to maintain it while coping with the strict limit on numbers allowed to enter their country.

Hence the elaborate and unprecedented shifting of the preliminaries to the Middle East, where they are being played under Covid-compliant conditions.

The men are i n Doha, where practice sessions have been limited to chunks of 55 minutes before the court undergoes cleaning.

Separately, in a possible nod to what might be seen at football’s 2022 World Cup, their tournament fact sheet has warned them against overt public displays of affection.

One Briton who will definitely not be making the trip to Australia is Kyle Edmund.

He has withdrawn due to soreness in his knee, an injury that has bothered him for more than a year now.