MELBOURNE, Australia – “It’s so good to see people.”
It was Naomi Osaka, the three-time Grand Slam champion, moments after her first victory at the Australian Open on Monday afternoon. She stops at a microphone on the track at Rod Laver Arena and watches a crowd that does not seem to be normal.
So it was on Monday everywhere in Melbourne Park, where international sports, however temporary, return to something like it was before most people knew the difference between a coronavirus and the seasonal flu or the expression “social distance” every time used it. third sentence.
Spectators lined up for tickets. They waited in security lines and determined whether they wanted to eat burgers or stuffed pitas or fish and chips, and decided how much $ 13 beers they could eat. Despite a light gray sky, a stiff breeze and temperatures in the low 60s, some lie on the grass or on the couches. The most popular people hung out with a champagne sponsor in the restaurant.
It can only seem safe now, as the Grand Slam tennis season begins in a country that undoubtedly controlled Covid-19 better than anywhere else, thanks to months of dedicated closures, closed borders, thorough testing and contact tracing. Only 909 people in Australia, with a population of over 25 million, have died from Covid-19. The country has had an average of half a dozen cases a day over the past two weeks, almost all of them international arrivals.
Photographers presented the shows in which the stars appeared, and at the best moments there was a clatter of pressure. An operator of a video camera wandered around the yards and caught fans wanting to dance and wave on the stadium screens. Music blew and an MC stadium encouraged them to be stupid during breaks.
And then there was the roar that was missing as games in largely empty stadiums came alive again, especially when a winner or perfectly played player came off the racket of an Australian player or one of the stars. There were a lot of the two on the tracks on Monday – both Williams sisters, Osaka, Novak Djokovic and local favorite Nick Kyrgios.
The smaller the venue, the bigger the rumble, as on Court 3, a cozy gem track where John Millman of Australia played in front of a half-sized crowd of about 1,500 fans.
“This is one of the biggest motivations we have, the source to which we draw our energy and power and motivation,” said Djokovic, the world’s no. 1, said in anticipation of the noisy reception he received from Rod Laver, in court where he won this championship eight times. “Especially at my age and stage of my career, I want to feed the energy of the crowd.”
The players had to endure varying degrees of quarantine two weeks after arriving there, and 72 of them were forced to stay 14 days in their hotel rooms after ten people tested positive on three chartered flights on arrival. Then they were released, and after a week of preparation, Monday paid off.
“Definitely nice to have people, lots of people out there,” said Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, after tearing up Laura Siegemund of Germany 6-1, 6-1.
With the spectators of 30,000 per day, who would appear about half in normal times, Day 1 at Melbourne Park was far from the summer festival this tournament is supposed to be. Only 17,922 fans showed up, with many tickets unsold for some reason – again, a canceled schedule that pushed the tournament back three weeks, Aussie kids were no longer on summer vacation, anger that tennis players, tournament officials and international media members received special exemptions to enter the country and brought new cases of Covid-19.
The fans who attend it will find differences from previous tournaments.
There were QR codes at each gate, and spectators were expected to register their seats to track contact if anyone in their section was positive.
There were many masks and rules about where and when it was must be worn. Local rules require it indoors, but it does not include indoor stadiums unless the pitched roofs are locked. The corridors between the outside and the seat count as indoor space, so masks must be worn unless a spectator is eating or drinking in the area.
Workers painted large circles on the lawns where spectators performed on big screens to demarcate where each group of fans who had gathered should sit.
Ryan Knight, who lives 40 minutes drive away and comes tried every year to get used to all the open spaces.
It was just after noon, and Knight went with his mother, Louise, and his partner, Danielle Locke, to a picnic area and searched in a picnic area, where he chose the table.
When organizers confirmed in December that the tournament was underway, Knight knew he would not miss the event.
“You can not lead your life in a box,” he said.
How long it will take for anyone who has attended great events like this to think and act like the Knights do is someone’s guess. The players hope it will not last long.
“A crowd that has such a noise, someone coming after them, can really turn things on for someone,” said Milos Raonic of Canada, who beat Argentina’s Federico Coria in live reports on Monday.
Even the usual burdens were easier to bear. In the second set of her match, Venus Williams had to walk away from her service while a mother left the arena to comfort her fussing baby.
Williams was later asked if she appreciated the normalcy of the crowd more after not seeing her fans for so long.
“Yes, I definitely had to live without it before I could appreciate it, which is often the case in life for our people,” she said. “I’m appreciative now.”
Karen Crouse reported.