COVID scare shuts down Aussie Open tune-up
Thursday play nixed as worker tests positive
Play was suspended at all Australian Open men’s and women’s tune-up events at Melbourne Park after a worker at one of the players’ quarantine hotels tested positive for COVID-19.
All matches scheduled for Thursday at the ATP Cup, two ATP 250 tournaments (Murray River Open and Great Ocean Road Open) and three WTA 500 events (Gippsland Trophy, Grampians Trophy and Yarra Valley Classic) were postponed.
Australian officials said about 600 players and support staff will have to isolate and undergo testing, roughly half of the number who arrived last month to begin preparations for the year’s first grand slam event.
The Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Monday.
“At this stage, there is no impact on the tournament proper,” Victoria premier Daniel Andrews said during a news conference Wednesday. “I must say (the Australian Open) is important to us but the issues are much broader and that is about public health and public safety.”
Before the shutdown, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev won their respective singles matches on Wednesday to help Russia join Italy in the semifinals of the team-based ATP Cup in Melbourne.
Germany also boosted their chances of progressing to the last four by defeating Canada in Group A to set up a knockout tie against defending champions Serbia on Thursday.
The Germany-canada Group A tie was a battle with four of the fives sets in the two singles matches decided by tiebreakers.
Germany’s Jan-lennard Struff dominated the first two and finished off Milos Raonic with a thumping ace for a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) victory that gave Germany a 1-0 lead in their opening tie.
Canada needed to win the tie to stay alive in the competition and Denis Shapovalov made a positive start by taking the first set against Alexander Zverev.
After Zverev took the second set, the two battled through a tight third set.
Shapovalov had chances in the decisive tiebreak but an unforced error and a double fault at crucial moments opened the door for Zverev and the German stormed through it with his 14th and 15th aces for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory.