The chairman of the ATP Tour said Wednesday the organization will work with players, event organizers and local governments to "keep the Tour operating" and ensure "health and safety remains a priority" amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Andrea Gaudenzi told ESPN the tour will look at all options as, like many other sports leagues, it continues to evaluate the logistical hurdles that have come with COVID-19 since play resumed this past August after an initial shutdown.
"The players have made unprecedented sacrifices in order to compete in Melbourne and they deserve huge credit for that," Gaudenzi told ESPN via an emailed statement. "As we look ahead, we are working in close collaboration with tournament organizers and local governments to secure travel exemptions for our athletes so they can continue to compete.
"Our sport has looked at many different solutions in its response to the global pandemic over the past 12 months. The nature of our Tour is truly global -- a move away from that structure would present significant challenges compared to many other sports or leagues."
The comments come less than a day after world No. 1 Novak Djokovic questioned whether there might be a correlation between injuries and quarantine -- which players were forced to do after arriving in Australia.
"I don't want to sit here, complain about what we have been through, but we have to be honest and realistic that it has an effect on the physical well-being of players," he said. "Of course also mental, emotional, but physically, I mean, this is not normal."
Australia has some of the lowest COVID-19 numbers in the world yet still banned fans from the Australian Open for five days last week after a small outbreak. Fans will be allowed back in Thursday in a limited capacity, but Djokovic wondered how countries with higher COVID-19 rates would handle tournaments.
"We have to find a way, you know, whether it's something like an NBA bubble, because I heard some players talk about that, and I don't mind to discuss about that kind of idea," he said. "Select one place and we play all the tournaments on that surface and that place. You know, three, four weeks in, three, four, two, three weeks' rest, then back again. Something like that. I don't know. On the top level.
"But we just have to discuss options, because I don't know honestly if this is going to work."
The ATP, WTA and International Tennis Federation (ITF) were all forced to cancel over 40 events through July of last year due to the ongoing pandemic. Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since World War II, while the French Open was pushed back to a late-September start, just two weeks after the conclusion of the US Open. The New York event, usually the final Grand Slam of the calendar year, was held in a bubble with no spectators. The French Tennis Federation allowed a small number of fans at Roland Garros, as players competed through much colder temperatures compared to the event's usual June window.
When asked about Djokovic's comments, No. 2 Rafael Nadal said Wednesday that while it is difficult for players to compete in a bubble and be separated from their families, they would not be the only ones affected by a shutdown of the tour -- jobs and events could be lost. But his choice would be to find a way to play, safely.
"[Djokovic is] completely right that, for our sport, things are difficult because governments are changing the rules constantly, so it's difficult to make predictions about how the things are going to happen," Nadal said after losing a tough five-set match against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Wednesday's quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
"If we stop our sport again, a lot of people are going to suffer, no? ... Of course we need to protect players, find a way to protect [their ranking], to not force them to keep playing, because the situation is very tough for a lot of players depending on the countries. ... We need to find solutions and we need to adapt to these very tough times we are facing -- not only us, but the world. We need to be grateful to life that we can keep doing what we are doing."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.