The world’s best tennis players were abruptly ushered into the world of hotel quarantine and isolation upon arrival in Australia.
Of all the players set to take part in the first major tournament of the season, 72 are now in strict quarantine after three of 17 charter flights were hit with positive COVID tests.
Some players criticized the harsh quarantineclaiming that they were unaware that everyone on board a flight would have to quarantine in the event of a positive test, although this was contradicted by some other actors.
Regardless, the increased restrictions players face have been a shock to their collective systems. So why?
What were the rules for other tournaments?
Like most sports around the world in 2020, tennis experienced a break of several months, with tournaments, including Wimbledon, canceled around the world.
However, after this period of interruption, tennis resumed, with the United States And French Open both taking place, in conjunction with their associated warm-up tournaments.
These tournaments used protocols very similar to those used in Australia.
During the US Open, players were placed in a bio-secure bubble, with hotels allocated near the National Tennis Center site at Flushing Meadows.
Players were tested regularly, twice within 48 hours of arriving in New York before being accredited, and then again every four days thereafter. At the Australian Open, players will be tested daily.
Leaving the venue, including visiting Manhattan, was prohibited and players were required to wear masks when not on the field.
The US Open even moved a warm-up event, the Cincinnati Open, to Flushing Meadows to reduce the amount of player travel, similar to how pre-Australian Open tournaments were moved from Perth, Brisbane and Sydney to Melbourne.
Players were asked to wear masks at all times, outside of play, and to submit to daily temperature screenings and a questionnaire before being allowed access.
The rules around the French Open, which took place two weeks after the conclusion of the US Open, were similar.
Did the players agree with that?
There has been some dissent over the conditions placed on players for returning to tennis.
Novak Djokovic, who also called for quarantine changes for Australian players, criticized the conditions imposed for the US Open, saying it would be “impossible” to play tennis.
“The rules that they told us that we had to follow to be there, to play, are extreme,” Djokovic said in an interview on Serbian television before the tournament.
“We wouldn’t have access to Manhattan, we would have to sleep in hotels at the airport, get tested two or three times a week…we could bring a person to the club, which is really impossible. I mean, you need your coach, then a fitness trainer, then a physiotherapist.”
Rafael Nadal also did not travelquestioning the safety of travel during the pandemic.
“The situation is very complicated around the world, COVID-19 cases are increasing, it seems we still have no control over it,” Nadal tweeted before the Open.
“It’s a decision I never wanted to make but I decided to follow my heart this time and for the moment I prefer not to travel.”
However, he had no qualms about going to France, where he won a record 13th title at Roland Garros.
No quarantine around the world
Normally, the life of a tennis professional involves multiple raids around the world: players travel to a city, play, then leave once they’re done.
However, this is not possible in Australia due to the federal quarantine requirement.
Limiting returning travelers and hotel quarantine has been the mainstay of Australia’s defense against the coronavirus, and players have had to follow those rules too.
“The rules apply to them as they do to everyone else,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“These are the conditions in which they came. There is no special treatment here. Because the virus doesn’t treat you special. So neither do we.”
The Australian Open has attempted to limit exposure risks by operating charter flights, preventing players from traveling with the general public.
Are all players in strict quarantine?
Not all.
Only three of 17 flights to Australia carrying players were associated with positive tests.
Players who have not been exposed to a positive case are still in quarantine, but are allowed to train five hours a day under restricted conditions.
Each of the three hotels has its own separate training center to limit mixing between hotels.
Players are escorted by COVID officers to and from the training center, which has a one-way system in place to stop any possible mixing.
This includes the approximately 50 players and staff present in Adelaide who, due to a lack of available space in Tennis Australia’s quarantine hotels, have been transferred to South Australia.
The rules there are the same as in Melbourne, although no players tested positive on the flight to Adelaide, so they can train as well.
