To prepare for the Australian Open, which begins on February 8, tennis stars will be entitled to different conditions from the rest of the circuit. The Australian Grand Slam confirmed this Saturday that a special “bubble” would be created in Adelaide to accommodate eight players.
A royal field featuring Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep, the top 3 in the ATP ranking and the WTA ranking, with the exception of Williams (11th player in the world).
The last two names have not been released. All will spend two weeks in quarantine before playing exhibition matches on January 29.
Better conditions in Adelaide
For the rest of the circuit, the quarantine will be in Melbourne and with draconian conditions. Going out of your hotel room will only be allowed five hours a day to train, eat or exercise. The Adelaide “bubble” therefore looks like preferential treatment for Jérémy Chardy.
“It’s weird, to put it mildly. They will even be able to benefit from a gym in the hotel and do their exercises which will not count towards the five hour quota, reacted the French player questioned by The team. Already they have a lot of privileges. […] And what would have happened if “Rodgezor” (Roger Federer, fifth player in the world and absent in Melbourne) had come? “
The boss of the tournament denies any favoritism
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley defended himself in an interview with Tennis Channel. According to him, sending the best players to Adelaide was necessary to convince the local government to accept this second “bubble”.
“We are almost at the maximum number of people that we are allowed to quarantine in Melbourne so we needed a bit of leeway. We reached out to the government of South Australia (Adelaide region) to ask. if they could accommodate 50 people (including the eight players) but they have nothing to gain if they take the risk of hosting players who will then go to Melbourne. The local Prime Minister therefore accepted a bubble and that players compete in exhibition matches. “
The operation will also increase the health bill for the Australian Open 2021. “I can confirm that it will be more than 40 million dollars (Australian, or 25.4 million euros)”, revealed Craig Tiley daily The Age.
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