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delaide’s 2021 international tennis event is under a cloud of doubt, after Tennis Australia confirmed it was considering shifting its entire summer program to Melbourne.
It comes after two other major sporting events in Adelaide were cancelled last week – the Adelaide 500 Supercars event and the Tour Down Under cycling race next year.
However, the state government and Tennis South Australia said they were still expecting to host the WTA and ATP women’s and men’s event at Memorial Drive.
Tennis Australia has also proposed COVID-safe bubbles in various cities for international players to train and play ahead of local tournaments and the Australian Open in January.
For these plans to go ahead, the state governments will need to approve and give the all clear.
There have been extensive discussions on what the best scenarios are, should there be an outbreak outside of Victoria and players aren’t able to make it into Melbourne.
Adelaide International tournament director, Alistair MacDonald, said their first priority was to make sure all players can make it to the Australian Open, highlighting moving all tennis tournaments to Melbourne was one of “six or seven scenarios” to ensure players make it to the grand slam event.
“Looking at all these scenarios is the right thing to do, but we haven’t made a decision on any of these, albeit we are getting closer to where we have to make a decision,” MacDonald said.
“We’re doing everything we can to do that — we’re working with [the South Australian] Government, we’re working with SA Health.
“We’re confident at the moment in our plans, but there is an element of risk there and as you get closer to the end of November decisions will have to be made,” he said.
There is still yet to be a final decision on what steps will be made next, after South Australia recorded five new Coronavirus cases overnight.
The 2021 Australian Open will begin January 18 and run until January 31.
