(Reuters) – If getting into strict quarantine ahead of next month’s Australian Open wasn’t difficult enough, Kazakhstani Julia Putintseva will have to grapple with an unwanted roommate in the form of a mouse.
Tennis – WTA Premier 5 – Italian Open – Foro Italico, Rome, Italy – September 17th, 2020 Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan during her second round match against Petra Martic Pool from Croatia via REUTERS / Angelo Carconi
Putintseva is among the 47 players and their followers asked to isolate in their hotel rooms for two weeks after COVID-19 cases were reported on the two charter flights that took them to Melbourne.
The world number 28, who arrived on the flight from Abu Dhabi, was already upset when it claimed it had not been told that all players on the plane would be quarantined if an infection were discovered.
The condition of Putintseva’s room in Melbourne did nothing to calm the situation.
“I’ve been trying to change rooms for two hours! No one came to help due to the quarantine situation, “Putintseva said in a post on Twitter, which was accompanied by a video of the mouse scurrying through her room.
The video made British tennis player Andy Murray’s mother joke that Putintseva needed a cat to solve the problem.
Some social media users have complained about gamers complaining that they only have to stay in hotels and have made Swiss world number 12 Belinda Bencic clean the air.
“We’re not complaining about being in quarantine. We are complaining about unequal training / play conditions before quite important tournaments, ”she tweeted.
Romanian Sorana Cirstea added: “People who complain are entitled. I have no problem staying in the room for 14 days and watching Netflix. Believe me, this is a dream come true, vacation even.
“What we can’t do is COMPETE after staying on a couch for 14 days. This is the problem, not the quarantine rule. “
Other players who have arrived on other planes are also doing a mandatory 14-day quarantine but are allowed to leave their hotels five hours a day to exercise, raising questions about the integrity of the Grand Slam.
From February 8, Australia will welcome around 1,200 players, officials and staff on 15 flights for the Grand Slam.
Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Adaptation by Himani Sarkar
