New Zealand’s Artem Sitak has sympathy for players concerned about the risks of competing after two weeks stuck in their rooms, quarantining in hard isolation ahead of the Australian Open.
But the Russian-born doubles specialist says players were made aware they risked being put into quarantine before the tournament and he was going to make the best of the circumstances.
“Especially for singles players, if they have to come out and go play a singles match, it’s very difficult, it’s extremely difficult,” he said of players’ concerns.
“I hope for everyone that they’ll be fine and there will be no injuries. It could happen.
“But as I said in my [social media] post, we knew the risk we were taking and Australia being very, very strict with their rules concerning the virus … this was always a possibility.”
Sitak is one of 72 Australian Open stars confined to their rooms in hotel quarantine after being on the same flight into Australia as a positive coronavirus case.
Players have tried to make the best of the situation. Social media posts from players in hard isolation shows them using upturned mattresses and hotel windows to practice in their hotel rooms.
But there is anxiety among players about how the quarantine will effect their match fitness, as well as injury concerns.
Players such as Sorona Cirstea have raised issues about how prepared she will be to compete at the standard necessary to succeed at a grand slam event.
The Romanian said in a tweet she believed she would need “at least three weeks after [isolation] in order to be in decent form again and compete at a high level.”
Loading
Many players share her concerns. Belgian player Kirsten Flipkens said she believed it was “insane” for players to play the tournament without any proper practice.
The situation is made worse for these players in hard isolation, as many of their potential opponents have avoided hard quarantine.
Only four chartered flights bringing tournament players and staff have been effected so far, with at least a dozen more planeloads arriving in Australia without issue.
Loading
Those players who arrived without positive tests on their planes will still be in quarantine, but — crucially — they will be permitted to go out of their rooms and train for five hours per day under restricted conditions.
Georgian tennis player Oksana Kalashnikova is among those players confined to a hotel room and unable to practise for two weeks.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Kalashnikova acknowledged other players who were able to train had an advantage over those like her in hard isolation.
“Of course we are not in the winning position in quarantine and obviously the other players will have an advantage because we can’t really have the same amount of hours of practice,” she said.
Along with the competitive disadvantage her relative lack of preparation poses, she said she is concerned about the possibility that her changed routine could also make her more prone to injury once she recommences her typical training load.
“For any human being, if you are not doing the same amount of workout you can’t just go in and jump in and do the same amount of hours [of training afterwards],” she said.
“Personally, talking about myself, I am just going to raise my hours slowly just to go with how my body feels [not to] overload it in the first days.”
Kalshnikova said the players knew they’d be faced with at least mild quarantine measures, and that she was happy to follow the rules and deal with the situation in front of her now.
But she does believe more time to prepare for the open may have been helpful to the players.
Still, she is trying to make the best of the situation by doing workouts to stay physically active in her room.
Loading
Psychological resilience may be the key to success
Former player and Kooyong Classic tournament director Peter Johnston said staying physically active and healthy would be crucial to the Australian Open success of the players in hard isolation.
But he said the players who were able to show psychological resilience and embrace training in these restrictive conditions would also be the ones who ultimately had the most success on the court.
“The physical aspect has to be managed, as we’ve talked about, but it’s really the one whose been able to keep everything together in their own mind and stay positive that will have the best results,” he said.
He said players should be staying “mentally up” by keeping communication with people on the outside, as well as doing as much exercise as they can.
But he said getting that physical training for a sport like tennis would be a challenge in the confined space of a hotel room.
“Well it’s very restrictive in a sport like tennis, as you can see from what lengths they are going to, to actually try and find some way to try and maintain their touch and their fitness,” he said.
“I think diet is also another massive issue and they need to have as much available to them as they normally would have.”
There’s also the climate related adjustment for players to consider, having left colder climate for air-conditioned hotel rooms, away from the Melbourne summer weather .
“I’d be really hoping for a window that opens because you need to experience the fresh air. The conditions in Australia are so much more extreme than players who come from say, the northern hemisphere,” he said.
He said it would be difficult for those competing against players who had better preparations.
But he hoped the nine days between the end of the quarantine period and the start of the tournament would give them a chance to bridge that gap in preparation.
“I think the good news is there’s a week’s break after this quarantine period is over and in that time there’s a lot of playing opportunities,” he said.
“It’s not perfect but I think that does give players the chance to have the best possible preparation as they can manage before the Australian Open starts.
Adjusting to a difficult situation
Former Australian doubles champion Todd Woodbridge agreed that mental preparation would be key for players emerging from hard isolation into the tournament.
“They are not going to be perfect, but they are going to have to do everything they can,” he said.
“I think Tennis Australia is looking at getting bikes into their rooms so they can do their cardio work-outs, and small weights and they’ll all already have programs that they would’ve been doing in that space anyway.
“So it’s about who mentally is prepared to do all those things.”
Sitak is one player who is mentally adjusting to the situation.
He says his preparation was not completely upended by quarantine, and takes the perspective that there is not much else he can do in the circumstances he finds himself in.
“Everything that I did in the off-season … I had six very good weeks of training, it’s not completely ruined but it’s not the same now,” Sitak said.
“We’re going to have to ease into it a little bit because it’s not easy to be locked down for 14 days. But what can you do with the circumstances?”
ABC/Reuters
