AO boss ‘absolutely confident’ event will go ahead

Australian Open chief executive Craig Tiley “absolutely confident” the first Grand Slam of the year will start as planned on Monday.

There are 160 players still waiting for the outcome of COVID-19 tests after a worker at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne was found to have contracted the virus this week.

A total of 507 people connected to the event were told to isolate by health officials.

And all play at six warm-up events – and the draws for the Open – were postponed today.

“We fully expect to keep the original schedule after today,”Tiley said.

The warm-up events are set to resume tomorrow.

The Australian Open draws have been moved back to 11am local time tomorrow.

The 160 players and support staff awaiting results of tests are deemed to be casual contacts by health bosses.

They will be allowed out of isolation once they return a negative test.

“We’re absolutely confident the Australian Open will go ahead,” Tiley said.