A tennis star from Kazakhstan has made a sign playfully begging for fresh air while isolating in hotel quarantine in the chaotic lead up to the Australian Open.
Yulia Putintseva is the latest in a slew of tennis stars to complain about their 14-day quarantine.
A total of 72 players have been forced into 14 days of hard lockdown after seven people linked to the Grand Slam tested positive after coming off three charter flights to Melbourne from Abu Dhabi, Doha and Los Angeles.
The players in lockdown are prevented from leaving their rooms for 14 days, whereas those players on different flights, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, are in Adelaide where they are given five hours a day outdoors to practice.
Putintseva, the World No. 28, posted a photo to Instagram of herself holding a cardboard sign that reads: ‘We need fresh air to breathe’.
Yulia Putintseva is the latest in a slew of tennis stars to slam the Victorian Government over their 14-day quarantine
The 26-year-old said she was inspired by the popular meme ‘dude with sign’ who regularly posts photos of himself with statement signs
The 26-year-old said she was inspired by the popular meme ‘dude with sign’ who regularly posts photos of himself with statement signs.
‘P.S. windows do not open. #freshairisimportant #atleast10minutesaday,’ she captioned the post.
Over the weekend Putintseva posted a video of a mouse in her hotel room, saying that she had been trying to move accommodation but was not getting a response from any authorities.
‘Been trying to change the room for 2 hours already. And no one came to help due to quarantine situation,’ she wrote on social media.
Putintseva claimed she wasn’t warned that there was a possibility players would need to isolate in hard lockdown for two weeks if there was a positive case on board their charter flights.
‘What I don’t understand is that, why no-one ever told us if one person on board is positive the whole plane needed to be isolated. I would think twice before coming here,’ she said.
A number of players have used social media to detail their perceived hardships of being in lockdown.
Carreno Busta, the world No.15 who arrived from Spain, shared a picture of a salad, an apple and juice cup alongside the caption ‘really?’. Italian star and world No.17 Fabio Fognini was offered the same meal, and explained that he hoped he received something more substantial next time
Spanish tennis star Roberto Bautista Agut compared hard quarantine in Melbourne to ‘jail with Wi-Fi’.
The world No. 13 slammed the Victorian Government in an interview with an Israeli news channel.
‘It’s the same, it’s the same [as being in prison] with Wi-Fi. These people have no idea about tennis, about practice courts, no idea about anything,’ he said.
Carreno Busta, the world No.15 who arrived from Spain, took to social media to share a photo of his hotel meal – a salad, an apple and juice cup – alongside the caption ‘really?’.
Italian star and world No.17 Fabio Fognini was offered the same meal, and explained that he hoped he received something more substantial next time.
French player Alize Cornet described the situation as ‘insane’ in a since deleted post.
The 30-year-old shared her frustration at the Victorian Government’s quarantine measures.
‘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,’ she wrote.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said they had tried to communicate the risk of hard lockdown but in some cases it was effectively lost in translation.
He said he held a 90-minute zoom call on Monday night with 500 players and faced the criticism.
‘There was some big hits that we took but there were also some compliments but the most heartening thing at the end in the chat there was a scroll of thank yous from all the stars and players.
‘Sometimes the minority have the loudest voices.’
Tiley defended Djokovic for appealing to Open organisers to ease restrictions in a wishlist reported on Monday, including a request to shift as many players as possible in Melbourne to private residences with tennis courts.
Djokovic’s requests were refused by Victorian hierarchy.
‘In the case of Novak, he wrote a note, these weren’t demands, they were suggestions,’ Tiley said.
Alize Cornet shared two photos taken from her own hotel quarantine stay in Melbourne
‘But he too is understanding what two weeks of lockdown means … every player coming down knew that if they were going to be close contacts or test positive that these were going to be the conditions.’
Earlier, Premier Daniel Andrews indicated players could be free to practise if a case was ruled non-infectious shedding.
‘If you’ve got say 30 people who are deemed a close contact because they’ve been on a plane with a case, and the case is no longer an active case but a historic shedding, well that would release those people from that hard lockdown,’ he told reporters.
Professor Sutton said the virus could still be incubating in some of the 1200 people who landed in Melbourne for the Open from Thursday to Saturday.