Fans are in, but crowd numbers are thin

The lines for beer on Day 1 at the Australian Open were noticeably thinner than usual, and the lawn chairs set up in front of the giant television screen in Garden Square were far emptier.

On the outer courts, there was none of the usual jostling or standing on tiptoes to catch a glimpse of a tight match. No waiting in long lines to get a seat, either.

Attendance for this year's first Grand Slam tournament is capped at 30,000 per day. On Day 1 last year, 64,387 fans crammed onto the grounds at Melbourne Park.

Still, there were actual fans at a Grand Slam again.

“I am not complaining,” Venus Williams said after her match in front of a sparser-than-normal crowd at Margaret Court Arena. She has contested the tournament 21 times. “I think every single person there was probably in awe to be sitting at a sporting event, as much as I was to have them there.”

Tennis went into shutdown last year after the COVID-19 outbreak became a global pandemic. The tours resumed in August but mostly without crowds. No fans were allowed at the U.S. Open and only small crowds were allowed at the French Open.

Drinking a beer on a grassy hill overlooking the outer courts, where giant white circles had been painted on the grass to maintain social-distancing, Jason Cameron of Melbourne said he didn't think fear of the coronavirus was keeping people away this year.