Serena Williams has won in front of full stands in Adelaide in a demonstration match against Naomi Osaka. It became 6-3 2-6 10-7 for the 23-time grand slam champion.
The game was played in front of 4,000 people at the Memorial Drive Tennis Club. It was the first time in almost a year that so much audience was present at a tennis match.
“I haven’t seen an audience in a stadium for so long. It feels like an eternity ago,” said Osaka, the world’s number 3, after her defeat. After the stringent measures in recent months, the Australians have won the fight against the coronavirus.
“Tennis is back”, wrote the Australian Open with a photo of the sold-out stadium in Adelaide.
“It was worth quarantine,” said 39-year-old Williams. “We had a calendar in our room on which we mark a cross every day. On the day that the period of self-isolation ended, there was a big circle. I promised my daughter that I would take her to the zoo to see koalas and kangaroos.”
The last tennis players to participate in the Australian Open from February 8, will be allowed out of quarantine this weekend. They are then allowed to move freely in the country.
The Adelaide demonstration tournament was scheduled at the last minute. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, among others, also participate.