Australian Open plans for Doha and Dubai to host qualifying stage once more for 2022 event

MATCH POINT: Osaka defeats Brady for second Australian Open trophy

Plans for the Australian Open are taking shape even amid Australia's surging coronavirus pandemic.

The country still has strict restrictions on traveling into the country and intermittently also among states, which will once more require adjustments to the way the Grand Slam competition is played.

According to the Times, Tennis Australia is planning to hold its qualifying events in Dubai and Doha again, likely during the holiday period. But main draw play, which was delayed by three weeks this year to allow players to complete a two-week quarantine, is scheduled to be back as usual in mid-January.

Players and teams are likely to have to spend two weeks in a bubble once again, but not under the strict limits they experienced during this year's tournament, when they were not allowed to leave the hotel room except for a few hours a day for training and hitting.

"There's a lot of time between now and when we get going but, at this point in time, we're planning on having a two-week bubble, where the players will be able to move freely between the hotel and the courts," Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia CEO, said at a recent event for tournament broadcaster Channel Nine.

These would be similar conditions to those pros have experienced during other tour events until quite recently, including at Wimbledon. Players had largely indicated that they would be unwilling to play the Australian Open under the previous conditions.

Tennis Australia will also have to obtain government approval.