When will the Australian Open take place?
The first Grand Slam tournament of the year will start on Monday February 8 and end on Sunday February 21, or three weeks after the dates originally planned (January 18-31). This slight postponement was decided in agreement with the Australian authorities to facilitate the organization of the event and allow a two-week quarantine of the players, once they arrived in Australia in mid-January.
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Open d’Australie
Gaston left in the first round of qualifying
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How to watch it on video?
The entire tournament will be broadcast exclusively on Eurosport (subscription terms by clicking on the link).
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Who will be in contention?
- The expected players: Eight-time winner and two-time defending champion, world number 1 Novak Djokovic will be the favorite in his own succession. But motivated by the idea of perhaps becoming the only record holder for the number of Grand Slam titles (he has 20 like Roger Federer), Rafael Nadal will obviously be in ambush, as will Dominic Thiem, finalist last year and winner of the last Major on hard in New York. Daniil Medvedev, Stéfanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev will also be to watch.
- The French present: Gaël Monfils, Benoît Paire, Adrian Mannarino, Ugo Humbert, Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon, Jérémy Chardy, Corentin Moutet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
- The big absentees: Roger Federer, Lucas Pouille, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro.
- The expected players: Sacred in Melbourne in 2019 and winner of the last US Open, Naomi Osaka looks like a scarecrow. But Ashleigh Barty, world number 1 coming out of a virtual white season, or Bianca Andreescu back from injury will be scuttled closely. The outgoing champion and finalist at Roland-Garros Sofia Kenin is also one of the logical contenders, as is Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza and flingering moms Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. We will also closely follow the course ofIga Swiatek, crowned in Paris in the fall.
- The French present: Fiona Ferro, Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic and Alizé Cornet.
Will there be audiences in Melbourne?
As at Roland Garros in October and unlike the US Open last summer, Melbourne Park will welcome many spectators. Australian Open director Craig Tiley has even claimed in recent days that 400,000 spectators were expected during the fortnight, which would correspond to 50% of the usual tonnage. By way of comparison, the Porte d’Auteuil could only afford to open to 1000 lucky people each day, or 15,000 spectators in all.
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How are the qualifications organized before the fortnight?
To limit the number of players to be transported to Melbourne, qualifying is well organized but has been relocated. They are taking place at the moment and until January 13 inclusive in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on the women’s side, and in Doha in Qatar for these men. As is usually the case, there will be 16 qualifiers per draw, so 32 players will then fly to Australia.
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Two “bubbles” to welcome players and a controversy
To ensure the transport of participants in the Australian Open and limit the risk of coronavirus contamination, a whole range of logistics have been devised, the main lines of which are:
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- Between the January 15 and 17, 1270 people will travel in 18 avions charters (20% full) to Melbourne’s main “bubble” or secure environment.
- Once there, players will be tested and will observe two weeks of quarantine during which they will be able to leave their hotel room for a maximum of 5 hours per day in order to train with a dedicated partner.
- A secondary “bubble” has been installed in Adelaide to accommodate around fifty people, including the world’s top 3 for women and men, Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. The latter will compete for a exhibition on January 29, before heading to Melbourne. If Craig Tiley assured that the quarantine conditions would be the same, Jérémy Chardy notably revealed that the interested parties would have a gym in their hotel that would allow them to talk without breaking the 5-hour quota. This lack of sports fairness is already talking.
What will be the preparation tournaments?
Melbourne will host events to allow players to acclimatize to competitive conditions:
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- On the side of these gentlemen, the second edition of l’ATP Cup will take place (February 1-5) with 14 of the 15 best players in the world, while for the others (including Stan Wawrinka, Karen Khachanov or Nick Kyrgios), two ATP 250 will be organized (Murray River Open and Great Ocean Road Open) from January 31 to February 6.
- The WTA has planned two WTA 500 tournaments where all the best players will be distributed: the Gippsland Trophy and the Yarra Valley Classic also from January 31 to February 6.
The tournament program
- 1st round: February 8 and 9
- 2nd round: February 10 and 11
- 3rd round: February 12 and 13
- Round of 16: February 14 and 15
- Quarter-finals: February 16 and 17
- Semi-finals: February 18 and 19
- Finals: February 20 and 21
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Open d’Australie
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