Day One Crowd of 17,922 at Australian Open

A general view of Rod Laver Arena at sunset in the third round match between Alex De Minaur of Australia and Rafael Nadal of Spain during day five of the 2019 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. Scott Barbour/Getty Images

The total crowd at Melbourne Park on the first day of the Australian Open hit 17,922, including day and night sessions in three divided zones.

It was well down on the 64,387 fans that crammed onto the grounds on the opening day of last year’s championship but way more than any other grand slam held since then.

The state government is allowing up to 30,000 people per day into Melbourne Park for the Australian Open, which is less than 50% of capacity.

The precautions are in place to provide some social distancing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were no fans allowed at the US Open, only about 1,000 per day were allowed at Roland Garros and Wimbledon was cancelled.

AAP