Dozens of Australian Open Tennis Players Quarantined for 14-days

With the Australian Open tournament looming in close, many tennis professionals have been arriving in Melbourne ahead of the game. However, officials forced the tennis players into a 14-day hotel quarantine for safety protocols. This is because weeks before, some of them had tested positive for coronavirus.

Australian Open Tennis Players and Staff Quarantined

More than 1,200 players, officials, and support teams have arrived in Australia for the two-week Australian Open tournament. They have already anticipated the strict measures in place. This is because Australia has come close to eliminating community transmission with the help of the hotel quarantine system for international arrivals, vigilant and prompt tracing methods, and high testing rates. 

According to Tournament Director Craig Tiley, in an interview with Channel 9, “We are in this situation, we have to deal with it, the Australian Open is going ahead. It’s a tough situation and we have got to do whatever we can to make it as fair as possible for those players that are in lockdown.”

Rising Tensions Between Australian Officials and Players

Australia holds a record of fewer than 29,000 cases of Covid-19 and 909 deaths. Because of the U.K. Covid-19 variant, they tightened the rules more in order to prevent an outbreak. But, because of the government restrictions, many of the quarantined tennis players felt like they were losing time to practice. 

Isolated players and tennis officials are not given permission to leave their hotel rooms, but some people are causing issues because they open doors for conversations. According to Emma Cassar, Quarantine Victoria commissioner, “There are a few people who are testing our procedures and we would encourage them to remain in their rooms.”

Moreover, Danial Andrews, Victoria state Premier, also told reporters, “I know that there’s been a bit of chatter from a number of players about the rules. Well, the rules apply to them as they apply to everybody else, and they were all briefed on that before they came. And that was the condition on which they came. There’s no special treatment here.”

Tennis Professionals Making the Best Out of their Situation

On a positive note, despite the 14-day quarantine, many tennis professionals are doing their best to adjust to the circumstances. You have Pablo Cuevas and Yulia Putintseva taking to social media to show what they’ve been up to. They uploaded videos of themselves “training” for the tournament by hitting balls against upended mattresses inside their hotel rooms. 

Although, Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 male tennis player, is not among those ordered into the strict quarantine in Melbourne. According to News Corp., Djokovic issued a list of demands to the tournament organizers. This included reducing the length of the isolation period and moving tennis players into private houses with a tennis court.

The Australian Open might be off to a rocky start. But, tennis players and punters still have high hopes for many tennis tournaments. For the tennis punter, they can use quantitative analysis sports betting for their wagers, among others.

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