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TENNIS-AUS-OPEN-HEALTH-VIRUS-QUARANTINE,NEWSERIES
Two players test positive in new Australian Open blow
MELBOURNE, Jan 19, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Two Australian Open tennis players
have tested positive for the coronavirus, health officials said on Tuesday,
in a new blow for the tournament which is facing a backlash from a wary
public.
The unnamed players were among three new cases — a woman in her 20s and
two men in their 30s — taking the tournament’s cluster to seven, Victoria
state’s health authority said.
More than 1,000 players and staff are in quarantine after arriving last
week in Australia, which is largely coronavirus-free. Three of the 17 charter
flights had positive cases on board.
The delayed Grand Slam has proved an enormous undertaking and is provoking
disquiet among Australians, especially in host city Melbourne which emerged
from a four-month lockdown in October.
Player complaints about quarantine have raised hackles further and
Australia’s Nick Kyrgios led criticism of world number one Novak Djokovic for
requesting improved conditions.
“Djokovic is a tool,” tweeted Kyrgios, the world number 47.
World number 13 Roberto Bautista Agut also told a TV station that
quarantine was like prison “with wifi”, calling the arrangements a “complete
disaster”.
However, tournament organisers insisted most players accepted their
isolation without complaint.
“Actually embarrassed to be a tennis player these days,” tweeted
Australia’s Arina Rodionova, while two-time Australian Open winner Viktoria
Azarenka asked her fellow competitors for “cooperation, understanding and
empathy for the local community”.
At least 72 players have been barred from leaving their rooms for two weeks
after cases were detected on their charter flights.
The others can train for up to five hours a day under strictly controlled
conditions. A series of warm-up events will be held after the quarantine
period, before the Australian Open starts on February 8.
Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion, is among a select group of
stars — including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal — flown
into Adelaide to enjoy better facilities such as hotel rooms with balconies,
unlike the majority quarantining in Melbourne.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion sent a letter to Tennis Australia that
reportedly called for players to be moved into private homes with tennis
courts and get better meals, among other requests.
Australian media portrayed the letter as petulant and selfish, while
showing images of Djokovic not wearing a mask in a players’ minibus, which
would be required in most taxis and ride-shares in Australia.
– ‘Ridiculous scenes’ –
However, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley defended Djokovic,
saying his letter merely contained “suggestions and ideas”, not demands.
Tiley said Australia’s strict quarantine rules were initially a “shock” to
some players but most had told him during a conference call that they
accepted the restrictions and wanted to apologise for the comments of a
disgruntled few.
“The majority of the players have been absolutely fantastic and this is a
playing group that’s a little bit upset with what some others have said
because it holds them in a bad light in the community,” Tiley told reporters.
He also ruled out cutting the maximum duration of men’s matches from five
sets to three to help players whose preparation had been compromised by
quarantine lockdown.
“We haven’t entertained those comments or that position,” he said.
Meanwhile Kyrgios also took aim at fellow Australian player Bernard Tomic’s
girlfriend, Vanessa Sierra, after she complained in an online video about
cold food and having to wash her own hair in quarantine.
“I don’t mind Bernie but his Mrs obviously has no perspective, ridiculous
scenes,” Kyrgios tweeted.
Djokovic’s actions around the tournament are being closely watched, in part
due to his seeming nonchalance about the virus in the past.
Last year, he organised a series of exhibition events in the Balkans at
which social distancing was minimal.
He and several other players later tested positive for the virus, as well
as his wife Jelena.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1600 hrs