Victoria’s premier has bluntly rejected tennis star Novak Djokovic’s reported demands to ease lockdown restrictions as the number of Australian Open competitors in quarantine reached 72.
World No.1 Djokovic reportedly sent Australian Open boss Craig Tiley a letter with six demands he wanted actioned for the players in lockdown in Melbourne.
According to Spanish tennis website Punto de Break, Djokovic demanded the length of isolation be reduced, for players to see their coach or trainer, and as many players as possible moved to private houses with a tennis court to facilitate training.
Djokovic, who resigned as president of the ATP Player Council to set up the Professional Tennis Players Association, also wanted better food and more fitness equipment delivered to the rooms of players.
But Mr Andrews shut down any notion of reducing the duration of quarantine.
“People are free to provide lists of demands but the answer is no,” Mr Andrews said.
“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 a condition on which they came.
“There’s no special treatment here … because a virus doesn’t treat you specially.”
Right,day 4…@marta_kostyuk you said you wanna be next 😉 #QuarantineLife pic.twitter.com/W6jSp6Vi4k
— Anastasia Potapova/Анастасия Потапова (@nastiaapotapova) January 18, 2021
Djokovic and some the game’s biggest stars including Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal are preparing for the Open in Adelaide, where they will play an exhibition on January 29.
There have been claims those players have better training conditions and were allowed to bring more staff than the one person allocated to players in Melbourne.
Meanwhile Australian Open boss Craig Tiley said the tournament start date would not be changed.
A further 25 Australian Open players were forced into quarantine on arrival in the country ahead of the season’s first tennis major, bringing the total number of competitors now isolating in hotel rooms to 72.
But Mr Tiley has ruled out delaying the tennis grand slam despite increasing pressure from restive international players furious about being put into hard quarantine.
A fifth person, who had flown into Melbourne on an Australian Open charter flight from Doha, tested positive on Sunday night after arriving on Saturday.
It meant three Australian Open charter flights have now brought in passengers who later tested positive, following infections on planes from Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi.
The players will now be confined to their hotel rooms for the next 14 days.
All international players were originally given an exemption to train for up to five hours a day but the test results have forced the three affected flights into stricter quarantine under Victorian government orders, prompting complaints of unfair advantage for the others.
The coach of 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, Sylvain Bruneau, confirmed he was one of the positive cases.
Training has been put on hold for all quarantined players pending final test results, although all players and their training partners have been cleared of COVID-19.
5k 😅 pic.twitter.com/oL2Qehg2LE
— Heather Watson (@HeatherWatson92) January 17, 2021
COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner Emma Cassar said that police presence had been increased at the Open hotels and added that there had been cases of “challenging behaviour” from some confined players and support staff.
She cited two cases when they opened their doors to have a conversation or shout down the hallway.
“There is zero tolerance for breaches,” she said.
“It’s low level but dangerous acts that we just can’t tolerate.”
Cassar warned they could be fined up to $20,000 or repeat offenders transferred to the complex care hotel where they have a police officer stationed outside their door.
Some players in hard lockdown are calling for the February 8 Australian Open start date to be pushed back to ensure they have adequate time to prepare.
But Tiley ruled out another date change.
“We are planning on February the eighth … and our intention is to continue with those dates,” Tiley told the Today Show.
He said they would consider adjusting the schedule for the lead-in ATP and WTA tournaments which are due to start in Melbourne on January 31 and February 1.
Players have claimed they were told that only those in close contact with a positive case would have to go into hard quarantine, and not all passengers on the flight.
Tiley said players were warned it was one scenario but that the tournament was at the mercy of the Victorian government.
“The determination of who was and who wasn’t a close contact was going to be entirely up to the health department, and they’re doing what they is necessary in order to keep our community safe,” he said.
“We never knew what the situation or decision would be coming in and now we have to manage an environment over the next 14 days.”
Tiley said the recent threat of the UK strain of the virus had changed the situation but insisted players knew there was a risk of isolation.
The players are getting little sympathy from many Australians, with thousands of compatriots unable to travel home while many Victorians are currently locked out of the state.
The players will pocket a minimum $100,000 if they take part on the Australian Open main draw.
