Australian Open under way in Melbourne after uncertainty

Published: Feb. 8, 2021, 7:58 p.m.

After weeks of playing shadow tennis in their hotel rooms, the world's best players took to the courts of Melbourne yesterday for the opening day of the Australian Open. Community cases of Covid-19 had forced a large chunk of the field into hard lockdown for 14 days and cast serious doubt over the grand slam tournament taking place at all. Watching the opening day of action from afar was tennis correspondent Dave Worsley.