Borna Coric and Denis Shapovalov are the first tennis stars to arrive in Australia

Croatia’s former world list 12th Borna Coric is believed to have been the first player to hit the country, while Canadian sensation Denis Shapovalov hit the country on Thursday.

Coric has not played since his shoulder surgery in May, while Shapovalov competed in this month’s Mubadala Tennis World Championships in Abu Dhabi, where he won Rafael Nadal.

Shapovalov, ranked 14th on the world list, will play in the ATP Cup in Sydney, and the Canadian campaign will start against the United States 2. January.

Top 10 stars Nadal and Ons Jabeur, as well as Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, all played in the Abu Dhabi show event and got a positive Covid-19 test – but Shapovalov avoided its fate.

According to Australian Open rules, all players and support staff must return a negative PCR test within 72 hours before flying to Melbourne or Sydney.

They must also be tested on arrival and isolated until a negative result is confirmed, which must be proven in order to obtain tournament accreditation.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said all players competing in Melbourne would spend the night in the Crown.

“This is one, if not the safest place in the world in January, thanks to the rigorous process everyone has gone through to get here in the area,” Tiley said.

“All players stay in the same accommodation, so we have a minimized risk environment at Crown and they stay there as a group.

– They are being tested on site, we are controlling their movements and they have direct access to the cars.

“So in 2021, we’re working to protect the community from players who came from an environment ravaged by the virus, but we didn’t have it.

“In 2022, it’s about players and our customer service representatives not getting Omicron or virus variants.”

Simona Halep and top 10 men Matteo Berrettini – the boyfriend of Australian player Ajla Tomljanovic – and Casper Ruud will arrive on Monday, before their first charter flight on Tuesday.

Some players and their support staff will not be able to fly to the venue until January if they are competing only in the Australian Open and not in any of the opening competitions.

Tiley said coordinating this year’s events was “10 times harder” than the stressful and complex edition of 2021.

“We only brought in 1,000 people in 2021 and will bring in 3,300 players and their staff (this time),” he said.

“We have a qualifier (held abroad this year), juniors and a wheelchair, so this has been more difficult.

“But this is Melbourne’s, Victorian, Australian work. We want to bring Australia back in a big way and… hopefully in January, as Australians, we can be really proud that everything has been vaccinated.”