Tennys Sandgren has become the latest player to speak out about the negative impact a hard quarantine has had on those participating in the Australian Open.
The world No.51 was among 72 players who was forced into a hard quarantine last month after being declared a contact of a positive COVID-19 case. Meaning they were unable to leave their room for a 14-day period and could only return to the practice courts last week. Sandgren started his campaign at Melbourne Park on Tuesday but suffered a 7-5, 6-1, 6-1, loss to 21st seed Alex de Minaur.
The American, who reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 2018, says he was unable to sufficiently prepare for the match due to the quarantine. Expressing his frustrations to the media, he said he ‘couldn’t walk’ after playing two matches last week as part of his warm-up for the event.
“How would you imagine prepping for a hot kind of muggy day, three-out-of-five sets against a player like that, that caliber, when you can’t play tennis? You can’t go outside? You can’t.” Sandgren said during his press conference.
“It’s impossible. I played last week’s event, which probably wasn’t a good idea. It wasn’t hot, it was very mild conditions, and I played two hard three-set matches and I’ve never been more sore in my life after the second round.’
“I took two days off because I couldn’t walk, and then I hit a couple times before today. I mean, it’s just kind of a joke of preparation.”
It is not the first time this week a player has hit out at the Australian Open over their quarantine measures. On Monday Angelique Kerber admitted she would have ‘thought twice’ about travelling to the country if she knew she would be placed in strict quarantine. Victoria Azarenka said the biggest problem for her was the lack of fresh air she was able to get. Meanwhile, Paula Badosa says her level was ‘not even 70 per cent’ prior to her 14-day isolation. Badosa was the only player out of the 72 to test positive for the virus.
Perhaps the biggest criticism was from Benoit Paire who described the Grand Slam as ‘really crap’ before accusing the organisers of not treating all the players the same during quarantine. Sandgren’s criticism isn’t as blunt as Paire’s but he believes for some players the tournament is too much for them.
“I’ve never walked on to a court in a Grand Slam knowing that I’m probably not going to be able to win,” he said. “I’m physically not in shape enough to play with my opponent.’
“I mean, my five-set record is pretty good when I get to a fifth set, I’m in great shape. And today I’m tired after an hour and 10 minutes. Like that to me is — and it’s a bit out of my control, and there’s 75 other players in the men’s and women’s field that are in the same boat.’
“It’s a hefty number of people, and very good players. I wouldn’t say the whole tournament is a joke, but for some players it’s not feasible.”
Sandgren will still be sticking around Melbourne for the next few days as he is also playing in the doubles tournament with Dominik Koepfer.
