Ever-optimistic Australian Open boss Craig Tiley is adamant the 2023 line-up is a stand-out, elevating eyebrows with the declare that it is the “best field” but regardless of a plethora of high-profile absences.
Injured males’s world No.1 Carlos Alcarez is the most recent star withdrawal from Melbourne Park.
But Tiley, the person who pulled off two grand slams within the top of the COVID-19 pandemic, is dismissing naysayers suggesting this 12 months’s event has a depleted line-up.
Novak Djokovic has returned after he was deported for not having a COVID-19 vaccination forward of the 2022 slam whereas whereas Rafael Nadal will defend his crown – however the absences are piling up.
Defending girls’s champion Ash Barty has stop taking part in, whereas fellow retirees Roger Federer and Serena Williams account for 13 Melbourne Park titles between them.
Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has additionally withdrawn from this 12 months’s occasion, with fellow former world No.1s Simona Halep and Venus Williams not competing both.
If Tiley has been flattened by the array of lacking names and champions, he wasn’t displaying it on Monday.
“I’m also proud of the fact that this year is our best field,” he advised reporters.
“As far as the entries go, every single player – we’ve had a few pull-outs as you know from injury but this is our best field we’ve had both on the men and the women.
“And I feel it is as a result of a whole lot of the gamers are utilizing their protected rankings from throughout COVID once they did not play as a lot.”
