Sitak sits tight for quarantine
AS ONE of the 47 tennis players forced into a hard isolation ahead of the Australian Open, New Zealand’s Artem Sitak may be bouncing off the walls of his Melbourne hotel room by the end of his 14-day quarantine.
The Russia-born doubles specialist was on flight QR7493 from Los Angeles, sharing the chartered plane with three people who tested positive for COVID-19 after landing in Melbourne.
Now, as one of the 24 players on board the flight deemed ‘close contacts’ of the infected trio, Sitak is effectively in solitary confinement at the View Melbourne, an inner city hotel converted into a quarantine facility.
Unlike other players who arrived safely and have the luxury of leaving their hotels to train five hours a day, the 34-year-old cannot even open his door for the threat of a A$20,000 (€12,750) fine under Australia’s strict quarantine regime.
Some players have complained and said they are at a disadvantage compared to betterprepared opponents ahead of the February 8-21 Grand Slam.
But Sitak is philosophical, and intends to burn through the hours with exercise, reading and playing games on his Nintendo Switch.
‘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,’ he told Reuters.
‘Obviously when I come out of the quarantine, we’re all going to be a little bit rusty.
‘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?’
Sitak gave the media a virtual tour of his room, a bland but comfortable enough space with a window that overlooks the city.
He said that an exercise bike and other fitness equipment had been sent to his room by tournament organisers Tennis Australia (TA).
He also revealed he was eating the food served by the hotel but other players were unsatisfied with it and were using a food delivery app.
‘We told Tennis Australia that it’s not up to the professional tennis player’s standards, so they are working on improving that,’ added Sitak.
‘They gave us the Uber Eats app. If we want to order Uber Eats we’ll get extra money in the end with our prize money to compensate for that.’
Sitak admitted he felt sympathy for players concerned about the risks of competing after two weeks stuck in their rooms.
‘Yeah, definitely, especially for singles players if they have to come out and go play a singles match, it’s extremely difficult,’ he added.
‘I hope they’ll be fine and there will be no injuries. It could happen.
‘But we knew the risk we were taking [coming here] and Australia being very, very strict with their rules concerning the virus... this was always a possibility.’
Sitak admitted he had been impressed by the creativity of Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, who posted a video on social media of himself hitting a ball against an upturned mattress in his room. ‘That was pretty cool,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I can swing my racket in this room.’