Tennis can do without Tennys
I CAN’T imagine Tennys Sandgren is the most-popular guy with Australian Open organisers right now. And rightly so.
Shooting your mouth off about COVID positive tests and making misleading statements ahead of an event hundreds of players are desperate to see go ahead was nothing short of selfish and shortsighted.
After months and months of planning, security briefings and organisation, not to mention the millions of dollars spent, why are you live-tweeting the fact you might be positive knowing the shit storm it would generate?
He’s created drama and what for? Whether it was intentional, who knows? But the guy has form when it comes to created hype.
Not only that, he was relaying disingenuous information when he appeared to directly thank AO chief Craig Tiley for his seat on the plane – despite admitting he had recently tested positive for COVID (regardless that he was now not contagious).
Getting on that flight was not Tiley’s decision. It all came down to getting the green light from health authorities.
So why throw Craig under the bus – the man who is going to all lengths to get people to the tournament so they can earn a living?
The man is doing everything he can for the sport of tennis, and that’s what he gets from a top-50 player? I was speechless.
The drama he’s created continues now, given it was the flight he was on that has the two new positive cases and, while it’s doubtful he is the cause of this, it will be guilt by association – and he’s created that situation for himself.
Because of his actions, more and more people are questioning the safety of the Australian Open when we should be praising the sacrifice that has gone into getting things this far.
If Melbourne doesn’t host, another city will.
We need to get back to some kind of “new normal”.
And we need to stop the argument of players being allowed in but stranded Aussies not. These flights have not taken a single seat away from Australians overseas.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
But maybe it would have been better if they just refused to get Sandgren on the flight.