Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep are among the top names that will take part in the upcoming Australian Open. While most of the players will quarantine in Melbourne, 50 of them will spend the confinement period in Adelaide where an exhibition will be hosted on January 29 and 30. The exhibition will have the presence of the 3 top players in the world (ATP and WTA) and therefore Rafa, Novak, Naomi and Simona will be definitely part of it alongside Dominic Thiem and Ashleigh Barty.
The exhibition in Adelaide
Talking on Tennis Channel, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley revealed the logic and the plan of the exhibition in Adelaide. The main issue was that Melbourne was about to struggle to quarantine all tennis players and therefore the idea was to have some help from another state. In that regard, South Australia agreed to help and quarantine 50 players and Tennis Australia would have organized an exhibition with the best players in the world.
Tiley commented:
“We’re right up to the edge of people that can quarantine in Melbourne so we needed some relief. We approached the South Australian government about the possibility of them quarantining at least 50 people, but they wouldn’t have any interest in doing it because there’s no benefit for them to do it to put their community at risk if the players then go straight to Melbourne.
But it would be a benefit if they played an exhibition tournament just before they came to Melbourne, so the premier has agreed to host 50 people in a quarantine bubble and then have those players play an exhibition event. So we chose the top three men and women and they’ll play an exhibition tournament on January 29 and 30 in Adelaide.
The conditions of quarantine in Adelaide will be the same, it’ll be a different hotel and a smaller cohort and they’ll travel directly to Adelaide. This is a great opportunity to launch in a city before we go to Melbourne, this is a nice way to say thank you to Adelaide for quarantining an extra 50 people.”
The busy schedule
It will be a busy schedule for the top 3 players in the world. On the ATP side, Nadal, Djokovic, and Thiem, after playing the exhibition in Adelaide, will compete the following week in Melbourne (ATP Cup) before trying their luck at the Australian Open.
Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, and Halep Barty will have a similar schedule. In fact, after competing in Adelaide, they will play a WTA500 in Melbourne before taking part in the Australian Open.
“Every single day you wake up there’s a different set of issues.”
Still, @CraigTiley and his team are working hard to deliver a successful @AustralianOpen, and the Tennis Australia CEO explains how on #TCLive→ https://t.co/tPoe44TDv0 pic.twitter.com/2gm131yoU9
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 7, 2021
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic played each other 56 times. Their current head to head is 29-27 for Djokovic. The last time they played each other, Rafael Nadal won 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the final in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) in May 2019.
Naomi Osaka in 2021
At the moment ranked no.3, Osaka played her last match on the 12th of September 2020 when she beat Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in the final of the U.S. Open to win her 6th career title.
Simona Halep in 2021
Currently the world no.2, Halep played her last match on the 4th of October 2020 when she was overcome by Iga Swiatek 6-1 6-2 in the 4th round of the French Open (draw).
Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep played each other 5 times. The head to head is 4-1 for Halep. Previously, the last time they locked horns, Simona Halep won 6-1 6-0 in the 2nd round in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) in May 2018.
