Dozens of world tennis stars forced into Covid 19 isolation ahead of the Australian Open on Tuesday confronted local officials who did not want to give the athletes special treatment.
Several players, including the world’s no. 1, Novak Djokovic – who contracted the coronavirus in June – is questioning the mandatory hotel quarantines in Adelaide and Melbourne aimed at stopping the spread of the virus ahead of the tournament.
Other players took to Twitter to investigate the quality of food in hotels and the lack of access to tennis courts. The girlfriend of one player regrets that she had to wash her hair without access to the salon.
Some trained athletes began rearranging furniture and hitting balls against walls to make up for lost training time.
The uproar began when more than 1,200 players, coaches and staff turned up on 17 charter flights to prepare for the Australian Open, which starts on 8 February. Coronavirus cases involving at least three of the flights have forced 72 players into quarantine Tennis Australia, the governing body that manages the tournament.
Australia, which is under the strictest Covid-19 restrictions in the world, has mostly closed its borders, although there are exceptions. All arrivals must undergo a mandatory quarantine period, and each state has its own restrictions.
Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews has explained why officials have rejected a request from Djokovic to move the athletes to private homes with tennis courts.
“People are free to ask things, but the answer is no,” Andrews told reporters at a televised conference. “They knew where they were going and we are not turning around or making special arrangements.”
However, some athletes said they did not know what they were getting into before traveling to Australia, and criticized the lack of information before arriving at the tournament.
“What I do not understand is that, why no one has ever told us, if one person on board is positive that the whole plane should be isolated, I will think twice before coming here,” world number 28 said. said. Yulia Putintseva, who also shared videos of a mouse in her hotel room.
Romania’s Sorana Cirstea rejects the idea that she and other players are ‘entitled’.
“I have no problem staying in the room watching Netflix for 14 days. Believe me it’s a dream come true … What we can not do is compete after 14 days on a bank remained, “she tweeted..
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said the quarantine was’ designed to protect the community ‘but defended the players’ right to appeal to alleviate restrictions.
“These are well-performing athletes and it’s hard to keep a well-performing athlete in a room,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“This is the contribution they have to make to get the privilege when it comes to competing for $ 80 million Australian dollars ($ 62 million) in prize money.”
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Djokovic, who won the Australian Open for men last year, has previously been criticized for not wearing a face mask in public, arranging matches without social measures and embracing players to restaurants in restaurants and nightclubs.
Last April, he told the press he would not be forced by anyone to take a vaccine to play.
However, some players have criticized the behavior of their fellow athletes.
“I’m ashamed to be a tennis player these days,” the Russian-born wrote. Arina Rodionova on Twitter.
While the two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka said in a statement that she understands the “frustration” of teammates, but calls for more “understanding and empathy for the local community” and sensitivity to those who have lost jobs and loved ones in the pandemic.
A smaller group of players who ended up in Adelaide, including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal, may have outside restricted training sessions under biosafety protocols.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
