(CNN)Normally accustomed to practicing for five hours a day in the build up to a grand slam, more than 70 tennis players are now limited to the confines of their hotel rooms as they begin the mandatory two-week quarantine in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open.
Not
even able to open their hotel room doors, much less find a court to
practice on, players have been getting creative with ways to workout and
try and stay as close to match fitness as possible in such unusual
circumstances.
On
Saturday, Putintseva posted a video of an unwelcome guest in her hotel
room, as she recorded a mouse scurrying across the floor.
Barbora
Strycova, the Czech world No. 38, impressively assembled a flat-pack
exercise bike to help her stay in shape, while last season's French Open
champion Iga Świątek was put through her paces with a number of
innovative exercises.
Though
many of the players remained in high spirits, eight-time Australian
Open winner Novak Djokovic put forward a list of proposals that would
loosen the restrictions on the quarantining stars and make their
acclimation to playing on a court easier once the self-isolation periods
are over.
These
included fitness and training equipment in every room, food that meets
the standard of that served at the Australian Open, reducing the number
of days the players are required to quarantine for, permission to visit
coaches providing both have returned negative Covid-19 tests and moving
as many players as possible to private houses with tennis courts.
However,
with some Australians expressing frustration at the favorable treatment
of players, these requests were flatly denied by the Victoria Premier,
Daniel Andrews.
"People
are free to provide lists of demands, but the answer is no," Andrews
said. "I know that there's been a bit of chatter from a number of
players about the rules.
"Well,
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."
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