16 Jan: Tennis X: It’s Getting Messy In Melbourne, 47 Players Quarantined With No Training Ahead Of Australian Open
by Sean Randall
The tournament chartered several flights to ferry players to Australia, but in the last 24 hours two of those planes had passengers test positive upon arrival.
On a flight from LAX, two aboard tested positive including a coach.
On a flight from Abu Dhabi, one passenger tested positive — Bianca Andreescu’s coach, Sylvain Bruneau.
The Australian Open has confirmed the cases on both flights. And the consequences are not pretty.
A total of 47 players (23 from LAX, 24 from Abu Dhabi) must now fully quarantine without leaving their hotel rooms for 14 days...
Where it gets sticky is players signed up to play the event because the tournament told them that if they tested negative they would be allowed five hours per day to train. Now, for 47 players that has been taken away through virtually no fault of their own.
Some of them include Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber, Kei Nishikori, Heather Watson, Yulia Putinseva, Sloane Stephens, Bianca Andreescu, Vasek Pospisil and Pablo Cuevas.
Imagine you undertake this 20-hour or so journey, land in Australia, test negative, prepare to get two weeks of training in only to get told you will have to isolate instead and cannot leave the hotel.
No shock, some players were not happy...READ ON
https://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2021-01-16/32235.php
following is prior to most of the 47 being told they had to quarantine:
15 Jan: Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Confusing and dangerous’: Readers respond to arrival of tennis players for the Australian Open
The arrival of thousands of highly paid tennis players and their entourages into Adelaide and Melbourne for the belated Australian Open is either a logistical triumph (if you’re the Victorian government and Tennis Australia), a disaster waiting to happen (if you are many ordinary Australians), and rank hypocrisy if you’re a Victorian stuck interstate or overseas...
Wendy: I’m sick of elite sports people always being given every free pass in this country. What about the thousands of people who are citizens and Victorian residents who can’t even get back into their own country or state? But you know, sport...
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/confusing-and-dangerous-readers-respond-to-arrival-of-tennis-players-for-the-australian-open-20210115-p56ugs.html
update of the Australian Tennis Open farce:
17 Jan: news.com.au: Australian Open announces fourth COVID case with some players attempting to breach quarantine rules
The Australian Open has been rocked by the announcement of a fourth case of COVID-19, with some players and their crews breaching quarantine rules.
by Hannah Moore, Gerard Cockburn
There are now 62 people who have been identified as close contacts of the four cases, who will have to undergo 14 days of quarantine...
Ms Cassar flagged Victorian officials will issue fines and further action for players who try and breach the rules, which are designed to contain potential strains of coronavirus from entering Australia.
“We take all breaches really seriously,” she said.
“For the players, that is a fine of up to $20,000, a warning from the police, but what we have also considered today is for those who are persistently breaching or not willing to remain in their rooms, our other option would be to transfer people to the complex care hotel where there is a member of Victoria Police outside the door.”...
It is understood the breaches have been linked to players and crew members leaving rooms to speak to one another.
“Some of these challenging behaviours include one player who opened his door to try and have a conversation with his training mate down the hallway,” Ms Cassar said.
“It is very low level, but they are dangerous acts that we cannot tolerate.”
Another example flagged by Ms Cassar was a player who shouted food for others within the hotel – which is allowed – before breaking the rules by opening his door to “praise himself for his great efforts”...
https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/australian-open/australian-open-announces-fourth-covid-case-62-to-quarantine-for-14-days/news-story/0bd9ce64f5d5f20adee3d7d6aa96474b