Australian tennis great Todd Woodbridge has conceded that postponing the 2021 Australian Open is possible after Tennis Australia was forced to delay juniors events.<\/p>\n
Tournament organisers and the Victorian government are aiming to finalise the timing for Melbourne's Grand Slam tournament within 72 hours, but the juniors have already paid the price for the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Australian Open boss Craig Tilley and Australian Open juniors tournament director Francis Soyer notified players of the postponement in a letter on Saturday.<\/p>\n
After Tennis Australia was rocked by revelations that the Victorian government would prevent players arriving in Melboune prior to January, Woodbridge admitted that moving the tournament remained a possibility.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
"I don't think that's an outcome we would be wanting," Woodbridge told the ABC.<\/p>\n
"But stranger things have happened in 2020, haven't they? Roland Garros \u2013 being played in September instead of May, even in the golf world the [US] Masters recently just finished a week ago and of course that's played in April normally.<\/p>\n
"These are all things that at some point you would have said 'no, that's not possible'.<\/p>\n
"[But] financially, to sustain these events, you can't lose a year. There's so much at stake."<\/p>\n
While he was open to the tournament being delayed, Woodbridge conceded that it was unlikely the showpiece event would be played away from Melbourne Park.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
"I think that would be hard-pressed now given the timeframe to be honest with you," he said.<\/p>\n
"The thing we have is that the size of the event in terms of the draws and so forth [and] the facilities required \u2026 Melbourne Park is the perfect place to be able to do that.<\/p>\n
"The early part of next year, 2021 \u2013 all of the tennis calendars are looking shaky at this point.<\/p>\n
"All of those discussions are ongoing too, between Tennis Australia, the men's tour, the women's tour and the International Tennis Federation about trying to work out what's best."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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