"Australian-only fans" at next year's Aussie Open? Tiley talks 2021

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley is hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. But Tiley’s best-case scenario about the 2021 Australian Open is still a far cry from the way we’ve grown accustomed to watching Grand Slam tennis.

"Our best-case scenario at this point is having an Australian Open with players that we can get in here with quarantining techniques and Australian-only fans,” Tiley told the Australian Associated Press.

With the remainder of the 2020 season in considerable jeopardy given the extreme international nature of the sport, Tiley said Tennis Australia has created four different scenarios with next year's tournament in mind, with a series of benchmarks and deadlines. The worst-case scenario is no Australian Open altogether.

“I got a text from someone in Australia who was worried people were running with the story that there wouldn’t be an Australian Open in 2021,” Jon Wertheim said on Wednesday’s edition of Tennis Channel Live. “ I was told that was one of four scenarios, that is the worst scenario and also the least likely.”

“The moral here is that all of these events really want to see tennis come back and they are willing to be creative,” Wertheim continued, “we’re all going to have to be nimble because these are not going to be conventional sporting events until we have a vaccine.”