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fter a positive COVID-19 test from a worker in the Grand Hyatt, which was used as a quarantine hotel for international tennis stars, forced Australian Open players and staff back into isolation, warm-up events have resumed and set to launch for the first grand slam with crowds.

With the Australian Open set to start February 8, the one-day postponement of the WTA and ATP events has meant the remainder of the tournaments have been condensed into three-day schedules.

Following the confirmed positive test result, all players who were housed at the Grand Hyatt have been tested for COVID-19, totalling 507, with all but 12 returning negative tests to date, with the remaining 12 still pending.

Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open tournament director, Craig Tiley, told 3AW most players involved have handled the news well.

“We’ve got a few pending, the pending ones are just the result of them being tested late last night,” Tiley said.

“So far that’s positive, hopefully in a few hours we get the positive outcome that all are negative.

“The players have been remarkable.

“They’ve been 14 days in quarantine, some of them longer, and it took them a while to get used to that as we all know with their comments.

“But the majority have been fantastic… when we made the calls last night and this morning they completely accepted it and have all gone and got tested.

“They’ve been very appreciative of the opportunity to play and I had a number of call from them confirming that we want this to happen and we will do whatever,” he said.

Tiley also confirmed Tennis Australia stance and rules regarding fan attendance have not changed, with the Australian Open set to allow 30,000 fans each day.

“The position has not changed,” Tiley said.

“We will have spectators today, spectators will continue to be allowed in the [Melbourne Park] site, we are continuing to sell tickets.

“The site will be an extremely safe place, there is a health check coming in, there’s contact tracing set up, and it’s divided into zones for physical distancing.

“This is a hurdle we’ve faced over the last 24 hours, we look forward to hopefully getting through it, and then to continue on.

“But at this point, there’s no change,” he said.