Daniell doubles up with Venus
Marcus Daniell will team with fellow Kiwi Michael Venus for a warm up tournament for the Australian Open, when he finally gets out of managed isolation in Melbourne this week.
Daniel was on the same charter flight to Melbourne as someone who tested positive for coronavirus. So like 71 other players, including compatriot Artem Sitak, he is spending two weeks locked inside a hotel room.
Most other players for the Australian Open are allowed to take a break from isolation to practice for five hours a day, while the big stars are living a life of luxury in Adelaide, before playing an exhibition event.
Daniell says he can only look out from his hotel room window and watch as other players head off to practice for the Australian Open, while this is the second time he’s had to experience two weeks in managed isolation, going through it in Auckland last year. ‘‘In some ways it’s easier this time and in some ways it’s harder,’’ Daniell said.
‘‘Comparing it to my experience in New Zealand quarantine, what’s easier is that I have a nice view from my window and I can crack it open a bit, so that I get some fresh air.
‘‘It’s harder, because I’m in here by myself, rather than with my wife and I’m watching all of my opponents walk out to the practice courts every day and feeling frustrated that every day I’m falling one day further behind.
‘‘That’s tough to deal with before a slam, but at the end of the day this was an uncontrollable and we’ve just got to deal with it as best we can.’’
It has become a trend among these 72 players to spend time hitting a tennis ball against a mattress, put on its side.
How much benefit players get from this is debatable, but it does help pass the time.
Daniell hopes to get out on Friday morning, but that won’t give him much time to prepare for next week’s ATP tournament in Melbourne, where he’ll team up with
Venus.
Daniell’s regular partner Philipp Oswald and Venus’s usual team-mate John Peers are playing for Austria and Australia, respectively, in the ATP Cup next week, so the two Kiwi players found themselves needing a partner and decided to play together.
‘‘Mike doesn’t have to quarantine, because he’s coming from New Zealand,’’ Daniell said.
‘‘So I’m going to have the minimum of three and a half days once I get out of here, to get myself match fit.
‘‘Hopefully four and a half days, if we get a Wednesday start, rather than a Tuesday start.
‘‘So it’s going to be my job to get my body in a place where I can hold my end up on court.’’