Tennis fans from China, historically the biggest source of international visitors to the Australian Open, are not expected to return to pre-pandemic numbers for at least another year but tournament boss Craig Tiley says the impact of new COVID-19 testing requirements for Chinese travellers will be negligible.

China has traditionally been a crucial market for the Open, which became the grand slam of the Asia-Pacific in the mid-2000s.

The Melbourne Park event starts on January 16. The Albanese government on Sunday announced a new screening regime for arrivals to Australia from China, which is due to begin on Thursday, but there is confusion about how it will be policed.

Many Chinese players, including world No.25 Shuai Zhang, have already arrived, and Tennis Australia is hoping for record crowds of about 900,000 across the tournament. Of those, about 10 per cent would be overseas visitors, although they currently make up about eight per cent of ticket sales.

“Historically, China has been our number one country for visitation prior to COVID,” Tiley said on Tuesday.

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“It altered significantly during COVID. I’m pretty confident we’re going to get back to that point - not in 2023. I think we’re looking more to 2024 and ’25 and beyond.

“I think those people that travel from China will be well versed in what the conditions will be. We never expected a large group of visitors from China anyway,” he added.

“The fact that things have changed in China, that more travel is allowed, may even improve the situation.”