Australian (Open) Tennis and COVID-19

[Pushka]

Some of the elite AO players in hard lockdown now;

Kei Nishikori
Sloane Stephens
Victoria Azarenka

VA is well known for sticking up for herself so I wouldn’t be surprised if she withdraws and asks to return to the US.

I think she has a lot of company on that score. It will take just one high profile player to be in full lockdown and watch this space.

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2021

Her last tweet.


victoria azarenka
@vika7

Made it to Melbourne! Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here! Thank you

No doubt before the lockdown. Time stamp is a day ago.

 

[jase05]

#AusOpen
@AustralianOpen
·
9h

Update from Adelaide: SA Health has confirmed that there is no one who has an active COVID-19 infection in the entire tennis cohort based in Adelaide. Testing will continue on a daily basis

Yes, they had to test negative before being allowed to practice and will tested daily.
As to why the top players are all here it was a deal by the SA government that we would take on 50 only if we got the best few for an exhibition tournament.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I think she has a lot of company on that score. It will take just one high profile player to be in full lockdown and watch this space.

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2021

No doubt before the lockdown. Time stamp is a day ago.

It is her last tweet on the open.

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2021

Yes, they had to test negative before being allowed to practice and will tested daily.
As to why the top players are all here it was a deal by the SA government that we would take on 50 only if we got the best few for an exhibition tournament.

Exactly.

Plenty of hotel capacity in Melbourne for 50 more people.

 

[Pushka]

It is her last tweet on the open.

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2021

And likely before she went into hard lockdown. Let's give it a couple of days hey?

Released today
"2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu’s coach, Sylvain Bruneau, has confirmed he was the positive case on the second flight in a statement.

“I am deeply sorry to share that I have just tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival here in Melbourne, after travelling from Abu Dhabi on flight EY8004,” Bruneau said.

“I have followed all the safety protocols and procedures, including testing negative within 72 hours before the flight departure and felt perfectly fine when I boarded the plane.

“I also respected and followed all COVID protocols and guidelines while in the Middle East. I have no idea how I might have contracted this virus."

So as an overseas tennis coach, in a health bubble in Abu Dhabi, he still managed to contract the virus.

 

[jase05]

It is her last tweet on the open.

Post automatically merged: Jan 17, 2021

Exactly.

Plenty of hotel capacity in Melbourne for 50 more people.

For some reason the Victorian government put a cap of 1250 on the numbers, maybe they only wanted to use x amount of hotels or security so they had to offload around 50 to SA

 

[Lynda2475]

SMH reports:

Kazakhstan tennis star Yulia Putintseva was left calling for a new room after being greeted by a mouse after her arrival at her quarantine hotel last night.

The 26 year old was already unhappy after a person on her flight to Australia tested positive to COVID-19 which forced everyone on the plane to spend 14 days in hard quarantine and be unable to train.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1350424781594587142

<-- This is the video footage of the said mouse

Other arrivals for the tournament are about to train outside their rooms for five hours a day at specifically isolated training venues.

Putintseva claimed players weren't told they would face such a strict quarantine if someone on the plane was sick, only someone in their own travel party.

But officials claim it was always up to Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton how any positive cases would be treated.

 

[RooFlyer]

I have not seen a breakdown. But I would imagine for most it will be a coach, physio etc I cannot really imagine anyone having a personal chef.

Pretty common amongst elite tennis players, actually. For instance:

Australian Open: Roger Federer's personal chef reveals Swiss legend's pre-match meal

Italian chef Andrea Tranchero, who has been whipping up meals for many athletes at the Australian Open, said that spaghetti is Federer's favourite dish.

www.republicworld.com

and:

Von Der Pool has also worked as a personal chef for many prominent celebrities, like Patti Labelle, Common, Stevie Wonder, Novak Djokovic, Venus and Serena Williams

Wonder if Federer or Williams have "booked the cook" this time? If you were the AO, and your top seeds said they wanted to being a chef, would you say no?

 

[Pushka]

Putintseva claimed players weren't told they would face such a strict quarantine if someone on the plane was sick, only someone in their own travel party.

But officials claim it was always up to Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton how any positive cases would be treated.

We were asking the same thing this morning. How much were the players told about the implications of someone 'nearby' testing positive. Fine print or no print? Or an ambiguous statement to the effect of "appropriate measures will be determined at the time". Anyways, I am fine with their head lockdown.

Well, many are not happy at all.....

Outraged tennis stars slam quarantine rules after virus causes Australian Open chaos

Forty-seven players were barred from practising for a fortnight in a major setback to their Australian Open preparations after passengers on two charter flights that brought them to Melbourne tested positive to COVID-19.

www.news.com.au

"French player Alize Cornet, who is in Melbourne but was not on either plane, called the situation “insane”.

“Soon, half of the players from the AO will actually have to isolate,” she wrote in a since-deleted tweet.

“Weeks and weeks of practice and hard work going to waste for one person positive to COVID in a 3/4 empty plane. Sorry but this is insane.

“We’ve been told that the plane would be separated by section of 10 people and that if one person of your section was positive, then you had to isolate. Not that the whole plane had to.

“This seems to be a very sensitive subject and I understand it. We are privileged, indeed, but please try to get our point of view too. And btw, I was not in this plane.

“But we are not asking the Victorian residents to play a professional sport afterward. The risks of injury after a two-week break is huge. Maybe I’m too focused on my side of the story, but that’s also why we are here for.”

Ukrainian star Marta Kostyuk added “being alone is such a torture” while other players claimed that the rules governing confinement have been changed. They said they were told they would need to undergo a hard quarantine only if someone in their section of the plane tested positive.

“We are not complaining to be in quarantine,” tweeted Swiss world No. 12 Belinda Bencic.

“We are complaining because of unequal practice/playing conditions before quite important tournaments.

“We made our decision to come here from rules that were sent to us. Then we arrived and received an information/rule book with more/new rules that we did not know about.”

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Pretty common amongst elite tennis players, actually. For instance:

Australian Open: Roger Federer's personal chef reveals Swiss legend's pre-match meal

Italian chef Andrea Tranchero, who has been whipping up meals for many athletes at the Australian Open, said that spaghetti is Federer's favourite dish.

www.republicworld.com

LOL. Nice link from : 30th January, 2020

We were discussing about who is in their travelling parties in the here and now in the AO bubbles, and not whether they had ever had one.

PS: Roger Federer is not in AO 2021.

 

[jase05]

We were asking the same thing this morning. How much were the players told about the implications of someone 'nearby' testing positive. Fine print or no print? Or an ambiguous statement to the effect of "appropriate measures will be determined at the time". Anyways, I am fine with their head lockdown.

According to one article I read the players were all seated in small groups on the aircraft and were told that if one of those tested positive then that group only would be forced into tighter HQ and not the whole flight. Seems the communication has been pretty ordinary from all parties

 

[Pushka]

LOL.

We were talking about who is in their travelling parties in the here and now in the AO bubbles, and not whether they had ever had one.

Amongst elite performers who spend so much time travelling, having access to ones own chefs is quite common. And we will never know how many are travelling with the AO party obviously but that doesn't mean it doesnt exist. At the very least I would expect the coach etc of every player has developed a relationship with the people preparing their food in Australia, if not bringing an actual chef. Athletes have very specific dietary requirements.

 

[RooFlyer]

LOL.

We were discussing about who is in their travelling parties in the here and now in the AO bubbles, and not whether they had ever had one.

Of course. But that's not what you wrote. But why not be able to imagine anyone in the current tournament having a personal chef? Either brought in, or a resident in Melbourne or Adelaide, delivering specialised meals to one or more of the elite? A Melbourne or Adelaide chef could even join the hotel bubble ( money not much of an object). Or do you think Federer is choosing between the spag bol, the rump steak with chips or the burger off the hotel menu?

edited

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Amongst elite performers who spend so much time travelling, having access to ones own chefs is quite common. And we will never know how many are travelling with the AO party obviously but that doesn't mean it doesnt exist. At the very least I would expect the coach etc of every player has developed a relationship with the people preparing their food in Australia, if not bringing an actual chef. Athletes have very specific dietary requirements.

Of course they do. My daughter was an elite rower (who I prepared food for when she was), brother in law an ex-Socceroo, and so I am most familiar with what elite sportspeople do as part of their life. Well at least the more disciplined ones anyway.

However as travelling parties are small in size I doubt many, if any, of the tennis player's will have used up a spot in their limited number for a personal chef to be in their personal party.

 

[Flying mermaid]

We were asking the same thing this morning. How much were the players told about the implications of someone 'nearby' testing positive. Fine print or no print? Or an ambiguous statement to the effect of "appropriate measures will be determined at the time". Anyways, I am fine with their head lockdown.

Well, many are not happy at all.....

Outraged tennis stars slam quarantine rules after virus causes Australian Open chaos

Forty-seven players were barred from practising for a fortnight in a major setback to their Australian Open preparations after passengers on two charter flights that brought them to Melbourne tested positive to COVID-19.

www.news.com.au

"French player Alize Cornet, who is in Melbourne but was not on either plane, called the situation “insane”.

“Soon, half of the players from the AO will actually have to isolate,” she wrote in a since-deleted tweet.

“Weeks and weeks of practice and hard work going to waste for one person positive to COVID in a 3/4 empty plane. Sorry but this is insane.

“We’ve been told that the plane would be separated by section of 10 people and that if one person of your section was positive, then you had to isolate. Not that the whole plane had to.

“This seems to be a very sensitive subject and I understand it. We are privileged, indeed, but please try to get our point of view too. And btw, I was not in this plane.

“But we are not asking the Victorian residents to play a professional sport afterward. The risks of injury after a two-week break is huge. Maybe I’m too focused on my side of the story, but that’s also why we are here for.”

Ukrainian star Marta Kostyuk added “being alone is such a torture” while other players claimed that the rules governing confinement have been changed. They said they were told they would need to undergo a hard quarantine only if someone in their section of the plane tested positive.

“We are not complaining to be in quarantine,” tweeted Swiss world No. 12 Belinda Bencic.

“We are complaining because of unequal practice/playing conditions before quite important tournaments.

“We made our decision to come here from rules that were sent to us. Then we arrived and received an information/rule book with more/new rules that we did not know about.”

Can’t say I am feeling much sympathy - can you imagine the uproar if Vic didn’t do this and it leaked out into the city again?

EDIT well a bit of sympathy as I can imagine how hard it is to train and want to do well and then have two weeks where they can’t do it, but I can totally see why Vic wouldn’t want to take a chance.....

 

[dajop]

Of course they do. My daughter was an elite rower (who I prepared food for when she was), brother in law an ex-Socceroo, and so I am most familiar with what elite sportspeople do as part of their life. Well at least the more disciplined one anyway.

However as travelling parties are small in size I doubt many, if any, of the tennis player's will have used up a spot in their limited number for a personal chef to be in their personal party.

I would have thought that yes due to small size of contingent a personal chef might be an indulgence - that doesn’t mean that local chefs could not be brought into hotel to prepare meal in accordance with the players requirements (as determined by their nutritionist/dietician).

 

[jakeseven7]

According to one article I read the players were all seated in small groups on the aircraft and were told that if one of those tested positive then that group only would be forced into tighter HQ and not the whole flight. Seems the communication has been pretty ordinary from all parties

That’s not actually what they were told in writing or verbally at all according to the ABC just now, all the rules were very clear and they signed up ‘at their own risk’ for all of this.

But what’s a grand slam without a few whines from tennis players about something

 

[kamchatsky]

Can’t say I am feeling much sympathy - can you imagine the uproar if Vic didn’t do this and it leaked out into the city again?

Maybe they should have let NSW run the AO this year. NSW would not have locked everyone up this way at all.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Maybe they should have let NSW run the AO this year. NSW would not have locked everyone up this way at all.

And would that be a good thing?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I would have thought that yes due to small size of contingent a personal chef might be an indulgence - that doesn’t mean that local chefs could not be brought into hotel to prepare meal in accordance with the players requirements (as determined by their nutritionist/dietician).

I am not sure SA Health or Vic DHHS would allow external staff into quarantine hotels as that would be breaching the bubbles.

But yes they could prepare it offsite and have it delivered in as food deliveries do seem to be allowed from what has been posted..


One of the two AO players that posted on food, ordered in Maccas's......so I he is probably one not as fussed with nutritionist/dietician advice

 

[SydneySwan]

SMH reports:

Kazakhstan tennis star Yulia Putintseva was left calling for a new room after being greeted by a mouse after her arrival at her quarantine hotel last night.

That mouse needs to be quarantined - close contact of a close contact!