On Wednesday, a staff member of the hotel accommodating tennis players and coaches tested positive for COVID-19, leading all matches on Thursday to be delayed. In addition, nearly 600 people must remain in self-isolation as they were deemed close contacts.

Tennis Australia, the federation in charge of tournament management, announced that all matches will be delayed, including Kaia Kanepi's Gippsland Trophy match-up with Karolina Muchova and Anett Kontaveit's Grampians Trophy meeting with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

"There will be no matches at Melbourne Park on Thursday. An update on the schedule for Friday will be announced later today. Those associated with the [Australian Open] who quarantined at the hotel now need to be tested and isolate until they receive a negative test result," Tennis Australia announced in the early hours of Thursday morning Estonian time.

While Kanepi, who is enjoying a streak of great play recently, has been able to train and participate in the warmer tournaments as normal, there were coronavirus cases discovered on Kontaveit's flight to Australia, leading the 24-year old Estonian to isolate in her hotel room for 14 days. Kontaveit was able to play one match in a tournament specially organized for the quarantining players and has now once again been directed to isolation.

Australia has implemented some of the strictest restrictions in the world over the past year in an effort to suppress the spread of COVID-19. A total of just under 29,000 cases have been discovered since March of 2020.

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