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In an unusual scene for the coronavirus pandemic, the crowd of 4,000 sat cheek by jowl as heavy hitters including Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka came out of their 14-day quarantine to play exhibition matches before the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne. next month.
The scene sparked joy on social media.
“It makes my heart to see fans in the stands. Well done Australia!” Andy Roddick, former world No.1, said on
his Twitter account.Australia has now had 12 days without a local infection in one of its states or territories, Health Minister Greg Hunt said at a press conference on Friday.
“This is a testament to (not only) the work of our healthcare professionals, our public health teams, but Australians around the world for the way they observed the demands of distance, the way they protected each other the others, the way they ‘I came for testing,’ Hunt told reporters.
Australia’s tough approach to the coronavirus has been controversial ahead of the Open, with some players arriving from overseas frustrated at finding themselves in quarantine.
Some have taken to social media to complain while others have posted lists of requests to Australian authorities. But speaking to CNN from his 40s earlier this week, Nadal said his fellow stars should have a “broader perspective.”
“I’m very sorry for all of them, but when we got here we knew the measures were going to be tough because we knew the country was doing very well with the pandemic,” Nadal told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
Australia has reported 28,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus to date, including 909 deaths.
The Australian Open kicks off on February 8 in Melbourne and will last two weeks. Friday’s exhibition matches were the official curtain-raiser for international tennis competition and saw Williams and Novak Djokovic win hard-contested matches.
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