09 January 2023 , 13:18
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The Australian Open has announced that players can continue to participate in the tournament if they have contracted coronavirus.
Therefore testing for the virus is no longer required, according to tournament director Craig Tiley, but he warned players to make the correct decisions regarding their health. “We just wanted to follow what's currently in the community," he said. "We have gone a step further by making a recommendation around staying away when you're ill."
He added: "We've made it clear to our players, as well as our staff, if anyone is feeling unwell, stay home, our medical staff will continue to monitor that, with the players individually as well. It's a normalised environment for us and, not dissimilar to the cricket, there will potentially be players that will compete with Covid-19."
This is a far cry from the regulations in place at last year’s event, which required all participants to be vaccinated against Covid-19. The players had to test daily and isolate if positive while in 2021 the event took place in a biosecure bubble.
The restrictions were the downfall of Novak Djokovic, whose decision to remain unvaccinated saw him deported and therefore miss out on a chance at glory at Melbourne Park again. One player who hopes to be part of the first Grand Slam of 2023 is Britain’s Emma Raducanu. She suffered an ankle injury which forced her to retire from her round of 16 crash in New Zealand last week.
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She left the court in tears with the score 6-0 5-7 while playing Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova. She faces a race against time to be fit for the Australian Open which commences Monday. But the 20-year-old remains hopeful she will be able to compete for her second major title.
"We'll see hopefully by Monday or whenever the tournament starts," Raducanu said. "We're just taking it a day at a time and not trying to expect too much at this point." The Bromley local has suffered multiple injuries since she began her first full season on the WTA Tour last year.
The Australian Open will allow any players who test positive for covid-19 to keep playing (James D. Morgan/Getty Images)In fact, during her debut campaign at Melbourne Park in 2022, Raducanu suffered from hand blisters in her second round loss to Danka Kovinic.
In an attempt to improves her fitness and durability, Raducanu has been working with Andy Murray's former physical trainer Jez Green.
"It was really unfortunate because I was feeling great about my season and I was feeling really good with the preparation I did physically," Raducanu shared regarding her latest injury.
"I just had an accident on the court, I don't know what I could have done to really prevent that." The youngster has just under a week to take to the court in full health with the 2023 Australian Open set to begin January 16.