Melbourne (AFP)
They have only been in quarantine for two days, but already the effects of isolation are being felt among the participants in the Australian Open: irony, disappointment, anger, system D or Coué method, they are exteriorized on social networks.
All the players and their companions, who arrived on Australian soil at the end of last week, are confined for 14 days in their hotels, according to the pre-established protocol which provides for an exit authorization for five hours a day to train.
But 72 of the players involved were placed in strict isolation, without any exit authorization, for having been in contact during their flights to Australia.
The first scratches were given even before the arrival in the country-continent in specially chartered charters, when some questioned the fairness of the Australian Open (February 8-21) with the exile of the elite in a VIP bubble in Adelaide when the majority were confined to Melbourne.
And Novak Djokovic's attempt, as chief trade unionist - he created the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) last summer - to get his colleagues' conditions improved in Melbourne has not helped. .
He received a firm "no" from the Prime Minister of Victoria and drew taunts from players.
- Mouse -
"Since Adelaide? Ahhahah", quipped Stan Wawrinka, commenting on a tweet publishing the grievances sent by the world No. 1 to the Australian Federation (Tennis Australia, TA).
The Swiss thus suggests that, despite official denials, the quarantine is more favorable to Adelaide than to Melbourne.
The quarters have now been taken from the various hotels.
Daniil Medvedev - who only complained about the jet lag - posted a photo of his room with huge bay windows overlooking the city on his arrival, when Alizé Cornet regretted a dismal view of the inner courtyard of his hotel.
Shocked, Kazakhe Yuliya Putintseva wanted to show her bulky roommate: "It's been two hours since I asked to change rooms! And no one came because of quarantine", she wrote in comment of a video showing a mouse running around his room.
The meals also provoked indignant reactions.
"Really?" Asks Pablo Cuevas, posting a photo of a meal considered petty.
"Really?", Imitates Marco Cecchinato to accompany a coconut-mango risotto much more promising in its title than in its appearance.
"It could be better ... next time of course", quips Fabio Fognini.
Faced with this junk food provided by the hotel, Benoît Paire turned to another supplier and had himself delivered by a chain of hamburgers.
The French had already suffered the full brunt of the very first health bubble linked to the pandemic, last summer at the US Open, from which he had been excluded for a positive Covid test, and confined to his room without being able to get out.
- Surf -
Some of those authorized to train have expressed an unexpected problem in the organization, however all military of their quarantine: the cancellation of their sessions.
"Adaptation, because of the cancellation ... gym in the room," posted Caroline Garcia deprived of a workout scheduled for 7:30.
Like her, many players are trying to play down, like Cuevas who crosses his bedroom surfing on his bed on wheels, according to a video posted on Instagram.
Without forgetting the physical work (back and forth between two walls in short strides, dumbbells, course between blocks ...) or individual chamber tennis: hitting balls against the windows or raising mattresses against the walls to be able to hit more strong.
“I'm screwing up my neighbor's nap,” his doubles partner Juan Sebastien Cabal, laughs Robert Farah, hitting volleys directly against the wall.
"I don't know what is the hardest part between not going out of the room or hearing guys playing tennis against a window all day," regretted Corentin Moutet.
But for others, the anger is already there.
Sorana Cirstea claimed that she would not have come if she had known the conditions that awaited her.
"I have no problem staying 14 days watching Netflix in my room. What I can't do is COMPETE after spending 14 days on a couch," she tweeted.
© 2021 AFP