A closed Open: The Hindu Editorial on Australian Open 2021

Australian Open 2021, starting in Melbourne on Monday, will be one of sport’s boldest experiments in the coronavirus era. It can indeed draw upon the experiences of the US Open and French Open, which were successfully held last year even as the pandemic raged in North America and Europe. But the backdrop Down Under is markedly different. Australia has been commended for its COVID-19 response, which has seen robust testing and contact-tracing strategies employed alongside severe lockdowns and border closures to limit the total number of cases to 28,850 and deaths to 909. To airlift more than 1,000 participants from across the world to such an environment has understandably raised hackles in Australian society. That there were eight positive cases among those associated with the tournament did not help, especially after Victoria — of which Melbourne is the most populous city — recently conjured a 61-day streak without a single locally acquired case. Tennis Australia has left…