Organisers of the Australian Open on Tuesday ruled out reducing the men's tournament at the Grand Slam to best-of-three sets due to players' inability to train at required level amid the strict Covid-19 quarantine rules.
A total of 72 players are currently not allowed to leave their hotel rooms for 14 days after some passengers on three charter flights to Australia tested positive for Covid-19 infections.
The rest of the players, who travelled by 14 other charter flights from across the world, are allowed five hours daily outside their hotel rooms to spend on preparing for the year's first tennis major from February 8-21.
Some players and pundits have said they feared the lack of training activities could make athletes vulnerable to injuries during the Grand Slam and called on organisers Tennis Australia to consider reducing the men's event from best-of-five sets.
"A few players came up with the idea to bring it down to three sets this time, which I think would make a lot of sense," Japanese player Taro Daniel told the Herald Sun.
"Because even for guys who are able to train these two weeks, it's not optimal training. You're limited to two hours a day and one hour of gym – so five sets would be pretty brutal this time.
"I have no idea if they'll be able to do it or not, but I think perhaps they should."
Players have also complained about the quarangtine conditions, and men's world No 1 Novak Djokovic, currently holed up in accommodation in Adelaide, sent governing body Tennis Australia requests for restrictions to be eased, drawing a backlash from Australians.
Tiley said he had a call with 500 players to address concerns and the "vast majority" had been supportive of Australia's strict protocols.
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Marital status: Single
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1. |
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2. |
China |
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UAE |
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4,872 matches
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- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
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Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
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Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
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