The Australian Open is in crisis three weeks before the first ball is served with 72 players forced into hard quarantine and unable to practice.
Stars from around the world were robbed of any real chance of success at the Grand Slam because just one person on their barely-filled plane tested positive to Covid-19.
Instead of practicing on court for five hours a day like their competitors, they are stuffed into hotel rooms 24/7 serving against a mattress on the wall.
Others are horrified by inedible food and forbidden to order takeaway, or have to dodge a mouse because no one will come in to remove it.
Kazakh world No. 28 Yulia Putintseva is among the players to hit out at the decision to make them go into hard hotel quarantine for 14 days
Time is running out and more players are still to arrive who could also be thrown into hard quarantine and all but eliminated before round 1.
Premier Daniel Andrews was repeatedly warned in November by tennis officials and star players this would happen when he dithered about player arrival dates.
As late as early December it wasn’t clear whether the tournament would even go ahead, and then it was pushed back by three weeks and procrastination continued.
Now last-minute arrival dates have left no margin for error and the number of players confined to their rooms on Sunday evening swelled to 72
The latest plane affected was a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on Saturday morning where one passenger was infected – ruining another 25 players including an Australian.
Five passengers across three planes carrying broadcast crews, players and support staff have now tested positive to the virus in the past week.
More players have been forced into quarantine after an infected passenger arrived into Melbourne on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha on Saturday morning
Serbian star Novak Djokovic has reportedly written a letter to tournament staff containing a list of demands for players who are locked in hard quarantine.
Among the proposals – according to Spanish website Punto de Break – is a reduction to the 14-day quarantine period, improved meals and better fitness and training material in players’ rooms.
The Victorian Government is facing mounting criticism over its decision to fly in 1,200 international players and officials for the tournament last-minute.
The infections threaten to derail plans to start the Open on time after Mr Andrews pushed back the tournament by three weeks.
Djokovic months earlier cast doubt on Australia’s ability to host the season-opening grand slam – urging Mr Andrews in November to promise players they could train outside for the tournament while in quarantine.
From political criticism to fiery tirades from cooped-up players, tournament and state government officials are facing a race against time to make the open’s planned February 8 start date.
Australian Open stars rage over sudden hard quarantine
Tournament organisers are facing growing defiance from the 72 players who can longer go outside and train for five hours a day as previously agreed.
One player who was supposed to be isolating was caught opening his door to boast about buying food from Uber Eats for his entire floor.
Another was caught having a conversation with his training mate in his hallway, Victoria Covid quarantine commissioner Emma Cassar said.
French player Alize Cornet described the situation as ‘insane’ in a since deleted post
She warned further misbehaviour from players could be punished with fines of up to $20,000.
Players including Russian world No. 28 Yulia Putintseva have also hit out at being made to spend two weeks indoors.
Putintseva tweeted she had never been told she would have to isolate if one person on-board her flight tested positive to Covid-19.
‘What I don’t understand is that, why no one ever told us, if one person on board is positive the whole plane need to be isolated. I would think twice before coming here,’ she wrote.
Former world number one and three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber is one of 47 players currently undergoing hard lockdown
Cornet said that when she agreed to the tournament, players were told that they’d be separated into sections of 10 people on their flights. If one person within that section tested positive, players were informed they would need to quarantine
Romanian world No.71 Sorana Cirstea meanwhile said she ‘would have stayed home’ had she known about the rule surrounding close contacts on their charter flight.
Swiss world No. 12 Belinda Bencic said the restrictions offered some players an unfair advantage.
‘We are not complaining to be in quarantine. We are complaining because of unequal practice/playing conditions before quite important tournaments,’ she said.
‘We made our decision to come here from rules that were sent to us. Then we arrived and received an information/rule book with more/new rules that we did not know about.’
French player Alize Cornet described the situation as ‘insane’ in a since deleted post.
‘Soon, half of the players from the AO will actually have to isolate,’ Cornet wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
A tennis player exercises in her hotel room in Melbourne on Sunday where players are quarantining for two weeks ahead of the Australian Open
‘Weeks and weeks of practice and hard work going to waste for one person positive to Covid in a 3/4 empty plane. Sorry but this is insane.’
Cornet said that when she agreed to the tournament, players were told that they would be separated into sections of 10 people on their flights.
If one person within that section tested positive, players were informed they would need to quarantine.
But those rules have since been amended to include the rest of the plane, she claimed.
However, New Zealand doubles player Artem Sitak said players complaining about their plight should ‘put some things into perspective’ and realise how fortunate they are when 38,000 Australians still can’t get home.
‘A lot of Australians at the moment cannot get home, because of the restrictions and all that, and we as foreigners, over 1,000 people, we’re here in Australia, we’re going to be competing in a Grand Slam, earning a lot of money,’ he said.
‘We’re still lucky to be here, unfortunate circumstances with the quarantine, but that’s how it is.’
Sitak said it was made very clear to players they could be made to quarantine if anyone on their flight came into Australia carrying the virus.
Anger over food and conditions inside tournament hub
Some have highlighted the sub-par food they’ve been receiving since they arrived in Australia.
Carreno Busta, the world No. 15 who arrived from Spain, shared a picture of a salad, an apple and juice cup alongside the caption ‘really?’
Several top tier athletes including Carreno Busta and Fabio Fognini have critiqued the food they’ve received since arriving last week. Frenchman Corentin Moutet shares his meal above
Italian star and world No. 17 Fabio Fognini was offered the same meal, and explained that he hoped he received something more substantial next time.
World No. 28 Benoit Paire from France opted against the quarantine meals entirely, and ordered McDonald’s delivered to his room.
As well as expressing her displeasure at the forced quarantine, Kazakhstan number one Yulia Putintseva also took issue with the hygiene inside the hub – posting a video of a mouse in her room.
Complaints have fallen on deaf ears as the Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria sent a warning to Tennis Australia about players trying to leave their room.
TA boss Craig Tiley said players will be fined and placed in hard quarantine if they continue.
‘There are a few people who are testing our procedures and we would encourage them to remain in their rooms, again, these procedures are in place to keep people safe,’ head of Corrections Victoria Emma Cassar told the ABC.
‘When people come out of their rooms it is not just about, or that they’re wrong, it is placing them and our staff and the community at risk.
‘There is zero tolerance for breaches of that, I had a conversation with a Victoria Police this morning, to ensure that we are increasing our compliance and enforcement efforts and there is zero tolerance for the behaviour.’
New South Wales premier takes aim at Victorian border restrictions
As her Victorian counterpart welcomed more than 1,000 foreign visitors into his state for the Australian Open, Gladys Berejiklian launched another scathing attack on Daniel Andrews over his decision to lock Sydneysiders out of the state.
The pair have been at loggerheads since Victoria closed its borders in December after a new outbreak emerged on Sydney’s northern beaches shortly before Christmas.
Ms Berejiklian reignited the war of words with another thinly-veiled swipe at Mr Andrews on Sunday, despite NSW recording six new locally-acquired cases.
The Victorian Premier has come under more fire from NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian (pictured on Friday)
She has repeatedly pointed out in recent weeks that NSW waited until new cases in virus-riddled Victoria reached almost 200 a day or more before closing the border last July.
Ms Berejiklian insists she hasn’t heard a word from Mr Andrews, amid speculation Victoria is considering plans to reopen the border to some Sydneysiders in the coming days.
‘He’s not been in touch with me at all but I also say that should have occurred quite a while back because we don’t have a hot spot in New South Wales,’ Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Sunday.
‘We are, of course, dealing with a result of an outbreak from a month ago, but I think everybody would agree that closing a border of such significance is a really big deal and I stress that we waited until Victoria had in excess of – I think it was 180 cases they had the day after we announced the border closure.’
‘Just to put things into perspective, those decisions are difficult ones, they affect a lot of people and I would just ask people to really think about those decisions before they’re taken.’
Easy for some
Bernard Tomic has it easier than many Australian Open players as he quarantines with his Love island star girlfriend and allowed to practice five hours a day.
After his miraculous last-ditch qualification for the Grand Slam in Melbourne, the faded star is taking every opportunity to hone his skills ahead of the first round.
The Australian player was seen on Sunday gripping an orange raquet through the window of his room at a Melbourne hotel, where he is staying with reality TV star turned OnlyFans girl Vanessa Sierra.
Former Love Island star Vanessa Sierra congratulated her tennis player boyfriend Bernard Tomic on qualifying for the Australian Open
The 28-year-old shocked spectators by winning a spot in the Open by beating fellow Aussie John-Patrick Smith in his third and final qualifying match in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday.
Tomic appeared deep in concentration as he rehearsed his moves ahead of the competition, which begins on February 8.
Sierra on Sunday night shared a video from inside their room as she flopped on to the bed, only to fall between the two twin bed that were pushed together.
‘Mandatory hotel quarantine is going great, hbu (how about you)?’ she wrote.
Sierra on Sunday night shared a video from inside their room as she flopped on to the bed, only to fall between the two twin bed that were pushed together
Pictured: Bernard Tomic practicing his tennis swing inside his room in hotel quarantine on Sunday
Pictured: Bernard Tomic practicing with his orange raquet on Sunday in Melbourne after he qualified for the Australian Open
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