Men's World No.1 Tennis star Novak Djokovic has had a long list of demands denied by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews after the Serbian issued a letter to Australian Open boss Craig Tiley following his arrival to the country.
More than 70 international Tennis players have been forced into 14-day hotel quarantine after the arrival of three chartered recorded a positive COVID-19 result.
Many of the tournaments high-profile athletes have made the most of their stay in isolation, while others like Djokovic, have asked for drastic changes.
Well, Uruguayan tennis player Pablo Cuevas has found a way to practice while cooped up in quarantine before the @AustralianOpen.
Just belt balls against an upright mattress in your hotel room! ๐๐พ pic.twitter.com/ZWHoOy8blz
— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) January 17, 2021
According to Punto de Break journalist Fernando Murciego, Djokovic sent the following demands to Tiley after arriving in Melbourne last week.
โข Fitness and training material in all rooms
โข Decent food for elite athletes
โข Reduce the days of isolation for players in quarantine and carry out more tests to confirm they are negative
โข Permission to visit your coach or physical trainer, as long as both test negative
โข Grant both the player and their coach permission to be on the same floor of the hotel
โข Move as many players as possible to private houses with a tennis court to facilitate training
Premier Andrews was question on the matter when fronting the media on Monday, stating players won't be receiving "special treatment".
โPeople are free to provide a list of demands. But the answer is no,โ he said.
โThat was very clearly laid out beforehand. So the notion that there's been any change, the notion that people weren't briefed โ I think that that argument really has no integrity whatsoever.โ
โI 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.
โThat was the condition on which they came. There's no special treatment here.
— Fernando Murciego (@fermurciego) January 17, 2021