The reward for dealing with the pandemic. 30,000 viewers a day at the Australian Open

The biggest sporting event in a long time and maybe for a long time to come. Australia’s successful campaign against coronavirus is bearing fruit. Up to 30,000 spectators will be able to attend the prestigious tennis tournament each day.

“It won’t be the same as it always has been, but it will be the most important international spectator event the world has seen for months,” said Victoria’s Sports Minister Martin Pakula.

Up to 30,000 spectators a day will be able to watch the Grand Slam tournament during the first eight days starting on February 8. From the quarter-finals to the finals, 25,000 will watch.

In total, 390 thousand tennis fans will visit the tournament. That’s only half the normal number, but it’s still an incredible number at the moment.

Already on Friday there was an unusual spectacle. The exhibition match in Adelaide, which featured stars such as Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic, was watched by four thousand fans without masks.

The players were thus able to celebrate the end of the quarantine they had been ordered to undergo upon arrival. In total, more than 1 700 players and members of their management teams arrived in the country.

Most of them were only allowed out to train for five hours a day, but 72 players had to stay in the complete isolation of their hotel room due to the coronavirus on board their flight.

“It’s not ideal to stay in quarantine for 14 days, but it was simply necessary. The past year has been very difficult for everyone. We are still in a very difficult situation, but I think Australia is a great example of how to handle such a situation properly. So a big congratulations to the whole country,” Nadal said after the exhibition match.

Australia, thanks to its location, managed to prevent the onset of a strong second wave of the pandemic. Tough lockdowns brought success. The whole of Australia has not seen a community spread of the virus for 13 days, and the state of Victoria, where the Australian Open will be played, has not seen an outbreak for 24 days.

Sources: BBC, CNN, Sportingnews