Threat to Aussie Open

THE Australian Open in January faces more uncertainty after the scheduled reopening of national borders down Under was deferred for two weeks. vaccinated international travellers were due to be freely allowed in from tomorrow but that will not happen until december 15 in response to the new Omicron Covid variant. with chartered flights due to bring in tennis personnel from december 28 ahead of warm-up tournaments, the dates are getting dangerously close, particularly if there was to be any further delay. A large majority of tennis players have been jabbed, although Novak djokovic has declined to say what his intentions are and his father this week cast doubt on the world No 1’s participation in Melbourne. British davis Cup captain Leon Smith said his team were watching Covid developments closely as they prepare for today’s quarter-final against germany in Innsbruck, Austria. the winners will immediately fly on to Madrid for the finals weekend, with no Covid complications expected at the moment. great Britain will try to replicate their win at the same stage against the same opposition when the competition was last held in 2019.