No love lost for tennis stars upset by rules of Australian lockdown

With every need catered for under sunny Melbourne skies, the pampered elite at the Australian Open might normally be the envy of Britons shivering at home.

Not this year, however, as those inside the five star confines can only hear the thud-thud-thud of quarantined players smashing balls against hotel room walls.

Tennis's mid-winter sporting spectacular in Australia has been brought down with an overhead smash by Covid-19. The sport's highest-paid players are in meltdown, with 72 unable to leave their rooms, let alone get to a court to finalise carefully-arranged practice schedules.

Some have been posting videos of training inside their rooms, while others have reeled off a lengthy list of complaints, including one whose partner cannot believe she has to wash her own hair.

At the centre of the "ridiculous" revolt is one of the game's biggest names of all, Novak Djokovic. The 33-year-old reigning Wimbledon champion courted controversy last year as he expressed anti-vaccination beliefs before catching Covid at a disastrous tennis event he organised.

However, he has now come under fresh attack from rivals and slapped down by local authorities after demanding conditions are improved. Better food, reduced isolation periods, permission to see coaches and a demand to be moved to private houses with tennis courts and gym facilities were among his requests.

Also among those to kick up a fuss is Vanessa Sierra, a former TV contestant who was rooming with tennis player boyfriend Bernard Tomic despite the restrictions. “I don’t wash my own hair, I have never washed my own hair, it’s just not something I do," said the glamour model, who sells images of herself on the controversial OnlyFans website. She also took issue with playing video games for 11 hours a day, ordering their own food rather than eating what was being provided, toilet conditions and washing their plates in the bathroom sink.

In response, Nicholas Kyrgios, an outspoken figure in tennis, tweeted: "Djokovic is a tool. I don’t mind Bernie but his Mrs obviously has no perspective, ridiculous scenes."

The 72 affected players have been deemed to have potentially come into contacts with four Covid-19 cases on three planes which arrived from Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

French player Alize Cornet, who is not one of those affected, apologised after initially saying the decision to keep them inside their room was "insane".

The plight of the players has also been met with little sympathy in a country where authorities are already warning that travel bans for tourists could continue until next year. Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews said players living under the strict rules will get "no special treatment". "The virus doesn't treat you specially, so neither do we," Mr Andrews said. "I know there's been a bit of chatter from a number of players about the rules. The rules apply to them as they apply to everybody else and they were all briefed on that before they came and that was the condition on which they came."

With the Grand Slam tournament set to start on Feb 8, many of the 72 isolating players are resorting to hitting balls against the walls and windows of their rooms.

Kazakhstan's world number 28 Yulia Putintseva said the players had not been told they would be confined to their rooms if one person on the whole flight tested positive. Others said they had been made aware of the possible scenario by tournament bosses.

Gordon Reid, Britain's two-time men's wheelchair Grand Slam champion, is among the players confined to his room and says it is a "minority that are kicking up a fuss". "But the majority of the time that minority are the loudest," the Scot added.

The players who have not been forced into the tougher restrictions are allowed out of their rooms for up to five hours every day. Tennis Australia says it has been a "challenging few days" while they worked to ensure everyone's safety as practice begins.