Some of the world’s best tennis players have been complaining about the strict quarantine rules they are under before the start of the Australian Open.
The first of the tennis Grand Slam tournaments of the year is due to start on Feb 8. Most of the participants have been placed in five-star quarantine hotels in Melbourne and Adelaide. They are allowed out of their rooms for up to five hours a day to practise on court.
However, 72 players have been told that they have to stay in their rooms for 14 days because they travelled on planes together with people who later tested positive for COVID-19.
Apparently, players are hitting tennis balls against their room walls to try to keep fit! Novak Djokovic, the reigning men’s champion is one of them, he asked for better food and permission to visit his coaches and a gym, but his requests have been turned down by the authorities. Some players say that they were not warned that they would have to isolate for 14 days if one person tested positive on their flight. The organisers say the players knew the rules before travelling. Australia has very strict COVID-19 rules, including a
limit on how many people can come into the country every week.
Some people are very angry that the players and their teams were allowed in while over 37,000 Australians are still waiting to return home from all over the globe.
