Someone for quarantine tennis? Players forced into two-week isolation before the Australian Open find ways to keep fit in their hotel rooms – including hitting volley on an inverted mattress
- 72 players are locked in their rooms at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne
- The Covid breakout meant that the players had to remain in isolation for ten days
- However, some of the sport’s bigger stars including Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and Rafael Nadal enjoy better facilities
- British star Heather Watson managed to run 5K back and forth in her room
- While the American player Coco Gauff hit her bedroom curtains with tennis balls
- The tournament starts tomorrow and runs until February 2nd
Some of the world’s greatest tennis stars are finding ways to keep fit ahead of the Australian Open – despite many of them being quarantined in their hotel rooms following a Covid outbreak prior to the grand slam.
While a handful of tennis professionals, including Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal, enjoy less stringent restrictions, the majority of players hoping to participate in the tournament are confined to four walls – with many of them tucked into the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne.
Those players in strict isolation – 72 at last count – shared their inventive approach to staying fit without accessing the usual gyms and training fields, including hitting balls on mattresses and curtains and creating small running tracks in their rooms.
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American star Coco Gauff hits balls against curtains and cushions while training for the Australian Open; 72 players have been strictly quarantined prior to the tournament in Melbourne
Chair squats – using hotel furniture! British tennis star Heather Watson holds up the leather chair while practicing lunges in her hotel room
The former UK number one got a 3 mile run … by walking repeatedly from one end of her hotel room to the other
Table for one, sir? Stan Wawrinka having breakfast alone in his hotel suite after a Covid outbreak in Melbourne forced many Australian Open players into isolation
Uruguayan player Pablo Cuevas is seen slapping backhands against an inverted mattress in an attempt to get ready for grand slam – while stuck in his bedroom
While British tennis star Heather Watson ran 5K back and forth in her room, American tennis star Coco Gauff pounded the curtains with tennis balls and Anastasia Potapova practiced her volley against the windows from close range.
In a video shared on Twitter, Uruguayan player Pablo Cuevas is seen slapping backhands against an inverted mattress in an attempt to get ready for grand slam later this week.
Meanwhile, Swiss tennis player Belinda Bencic shared a video of her smashing the window of her high room, with Melbourne’s skyscrapers clearly visible in the background.
For some, including reigning Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, 33, the isolation allowed is a bit more relaxed.
The biggest names in the game were allowed to fly to Adelaide and enjoy better facilities, such as hotel rooms with balconies, unlike the majority that go into quarantine in Melbourne.
Russian court rising star Yulia Putinseva used a wardrobe at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt, where many of the sports stars hide to fire shots
The pillow becomes the target of the Tunisian player Ons Jabeur while her coach gives her balls to hit
Marcelo Arévalo González (photo) practiced volleyballs with his mattress in lockdown
Belinda Bencic finds a way to train while in mandatory hotel quarantine prior to the tournament
This week, Djokovic wrote a letter to Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley calling on him to arrange practice time for the 72 players locked up in hotel rooms after cases were discovered on their charter flights.
According to Australia’s strict border measures against the coronavirus, this means that they are considered ‘close contact’ of an infected person and must be quarantined for two weeks.
The others can train for up to five hours a day under strictly controlled conditions. After the quarantine period, a series of warm-up events will be held before the Australian Open kicks off on February 8.
Djokovic also suggested that players could be quarantined in private Melbourne homes with tennis courts and fitness facilities. The players who are not limited to their rooms can currently train for up to five hours a day under strictly controlled conditions.