Complain or Cope: Australian Open’s bubble threatening to burst

The Australian Open is under heavy fire due to the hard quarantine enforced on a quarter of the players affected by COVID-19.

Through only a week of qualifying play, tennis’ first major of the year is under heavy fire. It was bound to happen given the current state of the world, but the Australian Open is dealing with major COVID-19 problems.  As of this morning (January 18th), 72 players are under hard quarantine after three flights chartered for Melbourne Park had positive tests on board.

Although the cases themselves have been kept under wraps, for the most part, the players’ treatment as they quarantine at the Park’s neighboring Grand Hyatt hotel has not been. Many competing athletes have expressed their disdain for the tournament organizers, saying they may not have attended had they known the confinement protocols beforehand.

While the majority of players both tested negative before their flight and escaped a close-contact quarantine are allowed to practice for five hours per day at the facilities, providing they abide by the strict social distancing rules set by the state.

For players with previous leverage over tournament organizers, their complaining turned to demand as the situation worsened. ATP World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was extremely unhappy with the situation, believing it to be unfair for players to play a Grand Slam event after a two-week quarantine.

Djokovic, who is currently serving a two-week quarantine of his own in nearby Adelaide, wrote to Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley with changes that he felt needed to be made. Among those were reduced isolation periods and private housing (with tennis courts) to allow players the flexibility to play while under quarantine with their team.

This, however, was not taken well by the state. David Andrews, Victoria’s state premier put out a statement yesterday regarding the demands made by the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

"“There’s no special treatment here…because the virus doesn’t treat you specially, so neither do we,” Andrews said. “People are free to provide lists of demands, but the answer is no.”"

Some of the game’s top players besides Djokovic, including Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams, have a drastically better quarantine environment than those in Melbourne. The top players have access to hotel gyms and were allowed much more staff than the players on-site.

"“Conditions are much better in Adelaide. First, players were allowed to take a lot more staff with them,” Phillip Oswald, a doubles player currently quarantining in Melbourne said recently. “They also have a gym in their hotel. So they don’t have to do their fitness exercises during the five-hour period. You only have five hours to play tennis. There was a huge discussion and the other players were also upset.”"

It’s gotten bad enough that Adelaide players were encouraged to stay off of social media in an attempt to keep outbursts at a low.

The situation isn’t a positive one, but quarantined players have been trying their very best to shed a positive light on their time inside. From window volley mattress hitting sessions to a 5km run in the small space of a hotel room, creativity beats all in this scenario.

Heather Watson’s 5k in the 20 feet of space between her door and the window was the highlight of the week so far. While the constant controversy and swarm of positive tests threaten the Aussie bubble to burst, it’s important to continue staying positive and pushing through as tennis attempts to get back to normal during these uncertain times.

The Australian Open is set to begin on February 8th.