A series of proposals laid out by Novak Djokovic in a letter which prompted some backlash has been played down by the chief of Tennis Australia.
Over the weekend it was confirmed that the 17-time Grand Slam champion wrote a letter to Craig Tiley asking for a series of changes to be made to the quarantine process. Among the six requests highlighted by Djokovic was the use of more testing in order to reduce the length of ‘hard quarantine’ and moving players to private facilities with tennis courts.
However, Djokovic’s letter was swiftly dismissed by various health officials in Melbourne who stated that no changes will be made to the mandatory 14-day quarantine. Emma Cassar, who is the COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria Commissioner, replied ‘it a no from me’ when asked about the letter. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has also shut down those ideas.
There has been no public comment from the world No.1 over his actions but Tiley has jumped to his defence. During an interview with Channel 9 Australia, the Australian Open tournament director said Djokovic never demanded any change to occur.
“Novak wrote a note, these weren’t demands, these were suggestions,” he told Channel 9 on Tuesday.
“But he too is understanding what two weeks of lockdown means.”
At least 72 players are currently in strict quarantine after somebody on their flights to Australia tested positive for COVID-19. A consequence that has a significant impact on their preparation for the first Grand Slam of the season with them not being allowed to leave their rooms. In the wake of this, some have called for men’s matches to be cut from best-of-five to best-of-three sets. Although this is unlikely to occur.
“We’re a grand slam at the end of the day and right now three out of five sets for the men and two out of three sets for the women is the position we plan on sticking to, starting February 8,” Tiley stated.
Djokovic is currently spending his isolation in Adelaide along with the top three ranked players on the men’s and women’s Tour’s. Prompting accusations that the top names could be getting preferential treatment compared to their peers. Tennis Australia has insisted that all players have to follow the same rules.
As for the negative publicity that has blighted tennis is recent days, Tiley insisted that most players are happy with the conditions. There has been social media posts where some players have questioned the quality of their food and have uploaded videos of insects in their room. Meanwhile, Roberto Bautista Agut has gone as far as describing living conditions similar to that of a prison.
“Last night we spent quite a bit of time with the playing group going through a number of different items because they’ve just been here for a few days getting used to this quarantine environment,” Tiley said.
“I have to say on that call there were about 500 players and the vast majority are happy to be here, pleased to be here and really getting ready in the next two weeks to be able to get out and play in the lead-in events and then play the Australian Open.
“I think the reports we’re reading and the things we’re seeing doesn’t represent the entire playing group. For the most part, they’ve been pretty good.”
On Tuesday it was confirmed that two unnamed players have tested positive for COVID-19.
What did Djokovic ask for?
- Fitness and training material in all rooms
- Decent food, according to the level of the tournament and from an elite athlete
- Reduce the days of isolation for the 47* isolated players, carrying out more tests that confirm that all are negative
- Permission to visit your coach or physical trainer, as long as both have passed the PCR
- If the previous proposal has the green light, that both the player and his coach are on the same floor of the hotel
- Move as many players as possible to private houses with a court to train
