MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Women will play shorter matches at the Australian Open on Friday due to a game deadlock after Thursday’s game was canceled with the news that a quarantined hotel employee was infected with the coronavirus.
Thursday’s matches in the six events before the February 8-21 Grand Slam were canceled after an employee at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which was used to quarantine players and their entourage, tested positive for the virus.
That left Tennis Australia (TA) organizers with just three days to complete matches before the first major tournament of the year begins on the same location on Monday.
“All WTA singles games starting on Friday will be a best of two regular sets with a 10-point tie break if needed for a final set,” said TA in the games released for Friday’s game order. .
The men’s tournaments will continue to be held in their best-of-three formats, with a 6-6 tiebreaker in the final set.
More than 500 people, including 160 players, connected to the Australian Open were considered “casual contacts” by the hotel employee and asked to undergo coronavirus testing, Premier Victoria Daniel Andrews said at a news conference on Wednesday night.
They are isolated until they receive the test results.
Australian Open Chief Craig Tiley told reporters on Thursday that the Grand Slam will start on Monday.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; edited by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)