AO2021: Andy Murray & Madison Keys Test Positive
The Australian Open is an annual Grand Slam tennis tournament which is being held from Monday, February 8th to Sunday, February 21st, 2021 at the Melbourne Park courts this year. This will be the 109th instance of this tournament overall, the 53rd instance during the Open Era, and the very first Grand Slam tournament of the year 2021. The prize money has been set at AUD 71.5 Million for this year’s Slam. Currently, the Qualifier matches are being held for the tennis players at the Melbourne Park courts.
Two key international tennis players have tested positive and will not be able to join the tournament. One of them is British tennis professional Andy Murray who tested positive a couple weeks before he was supposed to travel via a charter flight. He has decided to self-isolate at his home in Surrey, England. At the moment, he is unsure of whether he will be able to compete in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne, AU. However, based on the AO2021 organizers’ latest announcements, it is quite possible that since he will be unable to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine period if he arrives in Australia following recovery from the virus, Murray will not be able to participate in the tournament. The organizers wished him well in an official tweet soon after the news came out:
Wishing you all the best with your recovery @andy_murray pic.twitter.com/SRMQeuIxLp
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2021
The other is American tennis player Madison Keys, Women’s World No. 16 who had to pull herself out of participating as well, tweeting about her results and decision around the same time. The organizers of the tournament retweeted her announcement, wishing her well for her recovery as well:
— Madison Keys (@Madison_Keys) January 14, 2021
American tennis professional Tennys Sandgren was allowed to board an airplane for Melbourne, Australia after testing positive for coronavirus on Monday, January 11th, 2021. This is the second time in the span of two months that Sandgren’s reports returned positive for COVID-19, the first being in November 2020. However, after reviewing the American tennis professional’s medical files, the Victorian health authorities in Australia decided to clear him for flying because they found it to be viral shedding instead of actually being positive for the virus, as confirmed by Lisa Neville, the Australian Minister for Police and Emergency Services in an official tweet from early yesterday morning:
Tennys Stangren’s positive result was reviewed by health experts and determined to be viral shedding from a previous infection, so was given the all clear to fly. No one who is COVID positive for the first time – or could still be infectious – will be allowed in for the Aus Open
— Lisa Neville (@LisanevilleMP) January 14, 2021
The Australian Open personnel published a statement in regards to Tennys Sandgren as well, calling it a special clearance case and saying that players must be able to avail that on the basis of their health reports or test negative for the virus to be allowed to not just enter the Oceanian country but also to board the plane leaving from their home countries. They have also deemed it necessary for all players to quarantine for a period of 2 weeks (14 days) under COVID Quarantine Victoria authority with a much more rigorous testing schedule than other travellers, especially those returning to Australia.
Tennys Sandgren had self-disclosed about his results and tweeted the entire process of arriving at the airport to get cleared for boarding the plane, something that resulted in the flight getting delayed by fifteen minutes. Sandgren also credits Craig Tiley, the CEO of Tennis Australia for him being able to board the flight eventually:
Covid positive over thanksgiving
— Tennys Sandgren (@TennysSandgren) January 13, 2021
Covid positive on monday
Yet pcr tests are the “gold standard”?
Atleast I get to keep my points 😂
Following Sandgren tweet thread, the official twitter account of Australian Open continued the thread, informing viewers, fans, and critics alike that people testing positive often shed the viral effects of the disease for “several months”, and that every player is assessed by Victorian authorities before being cleared as non-infectious. Furthermore, they have announced that players will also be tested on a daily basis, referring to the stricter process of their testing schedule mentioned in the AO statement about Sandgren:
Victorian Government public health experts assess each case based on additional detailed medical records to ensure they are not infectious before checking in to the charter flights. 2/3
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2021
The team at Media Quotient Inc. wishes all players the best for the Qualifier matches, for the tournament itself, and for remaining negative in their COVID-19 tests!
Credit: Getty Images, @USOpen/Twitter
