Quarantine restrictions will not be set for any of the 72 tennis players who are restricted to their hotel rooms despite reclassification of two coronavirus cases.
Players were told on three of the charter flights submitted by the organizers of the Australian Open that they had to stay in their rooms for 14 days due to positive tests returned by a small number of those on the planes.
On Tuesday, Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton revealed that two of these advanced tests were thought to be viral excretion rather than functional issues, meaning that person had already recovered from a coronavirus and was not infectious. more.
But that did not change the status of any of the flights, meaning all 72 players could not train outside their rooms.
Sutton told Australian media: “This does not change the broader assessment of the player group in hotel quarantine. To date, none of the three affected flights have been affected as a result of the two reclassified cases. “
Three new cases related to the Australian Open were announced on Tuesday, involving two players, although it is not known if they are active or go viral.
Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain was the latest player to win criticism in the Australian media for complaining about quarantine conditions.
World number 13 was shown by the Israeli TV channel Sport 5 simulating the conditions for the prison and saying that the restrictions were a disaster.
Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan has been one of the most interesting protesters and posted a picture of herself on Instagram maintaining a sign that reads: “We need fresh air to breathe.”
The critics have received most of the publicity but there are plenty of players who have accepted the restrictions without complaint and understand how their situation looks to Melburnians, who have suffered. the tight lock in the world to reduce community issues to zero.
Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open winner, wrote in a long Twitter post speaking to her teammates: “This has been very sad for many of us who did not intend to end the game. -the situation we are in today, myself included.
“It’s hard to be in a hard 14-day quarantine of the work that everyone has been doing in their season – getting ready for our first grand slam of the year to play.
“I understand all the frustration and feeling of inequality that has come and it’s awful.
“We have a global pandemic, no one has a clear playbook on how we can work at full capacity and without wisdom, we have all seen it last year. Sometimes things happen and we have to accept it, change it and keep moving!
“I would like to call on all my colleagues for their co-operation, understanding and empathy for the local community who have been through many constraints that they have not chosen, but which they have had to follow. ”
Tournament director Craig Tiley said most players accept the position and also jumped to Novak Djokovic’s defense after being criticized at number one in the world.
It was reported that Djokovic put out a list of requests to improve on many of the 72 players, earning a brief move from top Victorian musician Daniel Andrews.
Tiley told Channel 9 TV: “As for Novak, he wrote a note, these requests were not, they were recommendations, but he understands what two weeks of lock-in means.
“I don’t think the reports we see and what we see are representative of the whole play group. For the most part, they have been very good. ”
There were suggestions that the men’s competition could be reduced from the top five sets to top three due to the limited preparation but that is not in Tiley’s plans.
He said: “At the end of the day we are a real slam. Currently, the situation we expect to maintain is three out of five sets for men and two out of three sets for women. ”
Andy Murray continues on his own at home in Surrey after a positive test for coronavirus and it is hoped that he will find out in the next day or two if he will be able to travel to Coravirus. ‘Australia.