The delayed start of the Australian Open, and the meandering path that officials followed in coming to the decision, revealed much about the state of international sports and tennis specifically at this unique moment.
The three-week delay for the start of the year’s first Grand Slam event — to early February from the middle of January — became semiofficial Wednesday night when the men’s tennis tour released a revised schedule for the first seven weeks of 2021. The Australian Open is now set to start on Feb. 8, according to the ATP schedule.
The announcement of a delay, which comes while Tennis Australia, government officials and leaders of the men’s and women’s professional tours are still completing the details, was the latest disruption in a sport that has dealt with plenty of it since March.