There is bad news for some tennis players that will have to observe 14 days of full quarantine in Melbourne. That means that they will not even be allowed to train for the 5 hours per day that they were originally granted during the quarantine.
The reason for these harsh restrictions is that 2 people on a flight were found positive for Coronavirus and therefore all passengers will have to observe this period of a strict confinement.
Tennys Sandgren, Victoria Azarenka, Kei Nishikori, Pablo Cuevas, Sloane Stephens Guido Pella, Juan Ignacio Londero, Santi González, and Artem Sitak are among the players that will have no chances of leaving their room for 14 days. Obviously, this is going to be a huge setback for these players that will not have the opportunity to get the right preparation for the Australian Open.
Sandgren hit the news for the fact that he was allowed to board the plane even if he was found positive for Covid-19. The official explanation was that he got infected already 8 weeks before and he was not considered infectious.
This was the official communications
“Hi everyone,
Unfortunately, we have been informed by the health authorities that two people on your flight QR7493 from LAX that arrived at 5.15 am on Friday 15 January have returned positive COVID-19 PCR tests on arrival in Melbourne.
The Chief Health Officer has reviewed the flight and has determined that everyone on board needs to isolate and will be confined to their rooms for the 14 day quarantine
We know this is not how you imagined your preparations for the AO would start but our entire team is here to support you and do everything that we can to get you through this.
You will soon be contacted by our medical experts Aspen Medical if you haven’t been already. They are available 24n to support you with all of your medical, mental health or wellbeing concerns. Below are their numbers again for easy reference.
Made it to Melbourne! Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here! Thank you 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Jt0ywFIEj4
— victoria azarenka (@vika7) January 15, 2021
Tennys Sandgren in 2021
Ranked no.50, Tennys played his last match on the 3rd of November 2020 when he surrendered to Pierre-Hugues Herbert 2-6 6-4 7-6(4) in the 1st round in Paris (draw).
Victoria Azarenka in 2021
Currently ranked no.13, the Belarussian played her last match on the 25th of October 2020 when she capitulated to Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-2 in the final in Ostrava (draw).
Kei Nishikori in 2021
Currently the world no.41, Kei played his last match on the 30th of September 2020 when he surrendered to Stefano Travaglia 6-4 2-6 7-6(7) 4-6 6-2 in the 2nd round of the French Open (draw).
Pablo Cuevas in 2021
At the moment ranked no.68, the Uruguayan played his last match on the 31st of October 2020 when he was defeated by Norbert Gombos 6-4 6-4 in the qualifications in Paris (draw).
Kei Nishikori and Pablo Cuevas played each other once. The head to head is 1-0 for Nishikori. When they played, Kei Nishikori won 6-3 7-5 in the semifinal in Houston (US Men’s Clay Court Championship) in April 2011.
