Australian Open happens to be the opening Grand Slam of the new tennis calendar. The upcoming edition of the tournament would be the 109th edition of the same. Meanwhile, it would be held under challenging situations, owing to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 edition of the Australian Open is all set to be held next month, between February 10-22. It would be the first time that the Grand Slam would be held outside its regular schedule, owing to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the players have already landed in Melbourne, as they are into a 14-day mandatory quarantine, as per the Victorian government’s guidelines. As of now, 1,200 officials, players and support staff are reportedly being placed in quarantine, while being given five hours to train.
Nonetheless, 72 players have reportedly been forced into strict quarantine, as the flight they arrived in happened to contain a passenger, who tested positive. Consequently, those players are unhappy, as they would now be receiving less training time than others.
Meanwhile, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland has complained of the same on Twitter, where she wrote, “We are not complaining to be in quarantine. We are complaining because of unequal practice/playing conditions before quite important tournaments.”
We are not complaining to be in Quarantine. We are complaining because of unequal practice/playing conditions before quite important tournaments.
— Belinda Bencic (@BelindaBencic)ALSO READ: Australian Open 2021- Sumit Nagal, Andy Murray earn wild-card entries
Furthermore, Romania’s Sorana Cirstea added, “People complaining we are entitled. I have no issues to stay 14 days in the room watching Netflix. Believe me, this is a dream come true, holiday even. What we cant do is COMPETE after we have stayed 14 days on a couch. This is the issue, not the quarantine rule.”
People complaining we are entitled. I have no issues to stay 14 days in the room watching netflix. Believe me this is a dream come true, holiday even. What we cant do is COMPETE after we have stayed 14 days on a couch. This is the issue,not the quarantine rule.
— Sorana Cirstea (@sorana_cirstea)I would need at least 3 weeks after in order to be in decent form again and compete at a high level! https://t.co/5X9YYdRmnH
— Sorana Cirstea (@sorana_cirstea)I was planning to play the tournament because they promised daily 5 h quarantine exemption where we could go practice,do a gym session and rehab.this was the deal before signing up to this...but the rules changed "overnight"! https://t.co/nRg94NNS57
— Sorana Cirstea (@sorana_cirstea)Also, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva noted, “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.”
I agree...if they would have told us this rule before i would not play Australia...I would have stayed home. They told us we would fly at 20% capacity, in sections and we would be a close contact ONLY if my team or cohort tests positive . https://t.co/kF58HEijqq
— Sorana Cirstea (@sorana_cirstea)Speaking on the situation, Craig Tiley, AO tournament director told AP, “Now, we have to manage an environment over the next 14 days for those who won’t be able to practice. It’s a tough situation. We’ve got to do whatever we can to make it as fair as possible for those players that are in lockdown.”
Also, Emma Cassar, quarantine commissioner of Victoria, too, made it clear, “This is designed to make people safe. We make no apologies for that.”