Djokovic sparks fury with Covid demands
>World No 1 wants Melbourne isolation period to be reduced >Kyrgios ridicules Serb for requesting houses for players
World No1 Novak Djokovic faced an angry backlash from fellow professionals after his demands for more lenient quarantine conditions ahead of the Australian Open were rejected.
Djokovic had sent a letter to Tennis Australia calling for the isolation periods of the 72 players in hard quarantine to be reduced, while also suggesting that as many as possible should be “moved to private houses with a court to train”.
In response, Nick Kyrgios, Australia’s best-known current player, called Djokovic “a tool” on social media. Sam Groth – one of Kyrgios’s former Davis Cup team-mates – said: “He’s the last person anyone is going to take Covid advice from.”
Groth added: “To suggest players should have shorter quarantine is not only ridiculous, it’s insulting to Australians that have had to endure it.”
The Victoria state premier, Daniel Andrews, told local news channels: “People are free to provide lists of demands. But the answer is no. I know that there’s been a bit of chatter from players about the rules. Well, the rules apply to them as they apply to everybody else, and they were briefed before they came.”
Western Australia premier Mark Mcgowan described players who were complaining about conditions in spite of Victoria’s long-standing lockdown conditions as “prima donnas”.
The backlash follows Djokovic’s role in the Adria Tour last year, a tournament in which players, including the Serb himself, and coaching staff contracted Covid-19.
Kyrgios had described him as “boneheaded” for staging the event across several European countries during the pandemic.
While practice sessions in Melbourne have now begun for the majority of the 370-odd players involved in next month’s Australian Open, 72 unfortunates must stay in their hotels until the end of this month because of positive Covid tests on their charter flights into Australia. Four more positive tests were reported yesterday among the arrivals, taking the total to nine.
After a flurry of angst in early social media posts from inside the quarantine hotels, most players and coaches have started to tone down their comments.
Vanessa Sierra – girlfriend of Australian player Bernard Tomic – has drawn almost as much criticism as Djokovic for complaining: “The worst part of all this is that I have to wash my own hair.”
Despite winning Australian Open a record eight times, his standing across the country has never been lower
Sympathy has rarely turned to disdain with such speed as it has in Australia, where the “poor me” attitude of the world’s tennis players has incensed residents and politicians alike.
Before going any further, it should be pointed out that the majority of the 370-odd players who arrived in Melbourne over the weekend have got on quietly with their business – even if that business entails bouncing tennis balls off their walls and windows as they begin 14 days of hard quarantine.
But it takes only a few “flogs” – a typically vivid Australian term for plonkers – to tar all the others with the same brush of arrogance and entitlement. In the words of Arina Rodionova, the world No 169 who lives in Melbourne: “Actually embarrassed to be a tennis player these days. If anyone asks, I am a full-time gardener and a cleaner on the weekends.”
So, who has dropped the biggest clanger, once again showcasing his talent for striking the wrong tone in any given situation? You guessed it: world No1 Novak Djokovic.
Yes, it is Djokovic: the man who still thinks he represents the locker room, despite the invisibility of his breakaway player union. The man who has spoken out against vaccinations and who helped assemble the embarrassingly bio-insecure Adria Tour last summer.
Djokovic’s latest stunt is to send Tennis Australia a six-point list of suggestions about how to ease the plight of the 72 players in hard quarantine. It began sensibly enough, with requests for fitness equipment in all rooms and “decent food”. But he then suggested that TA should “reduce the days of isolation”. This would be a decision for a scientist, one might think. At least, that is if one believed in science.
Then came the piece de resistance – a reminder that Djokovic’s impression of the world outside his gated mansion could do with a little reality check. “Move as many players as possible to private houses with a court to train.”
Leaving aside the amusing idea that there are dozens of such properties available, does Djokovic have any idea why the players are being cooped up in their quarantine hotels in the first place? With security guards on each floor and Victorian state police ready to apply A$20,000 (£11,300) fines to anyone who so much as opens their door?
Australia has taken a much harder line on Covid than virtually any other tennis-playing nation. The result is that fewer than 1,000 people nationwide have died, and only around 28,000 have been infected. The Adria Tour, which probably sparked scores of cases on its own, would have been unthinkable Down Under.
And then there was the hypocrisy. Even Stan Wawrinka, a regular practice partner, could not stomach the fact that Djokovic was writing his letter from Adelaide – where he has been filmed happily buzzing about in a shuttle bus with no mask. The handful of elite players based in Adelaide have been permitted more generous training schedules and unlimited entourages, by comparison with the two support-staff members allowed in Melbourne.
“From Adelaide?” Wawrinka tweeted. “Ahhahah.”
That was only the beginning of the negative reaction. Sam Groth, the former world No53 from New South Wales who now works as a commentator, was more outspoken. “It’s a selfish move to gain popularity,” Groth said of Djokovic’s list. “He’s the last person anyone is going to take Covid advice from.”
Daniel Andrews, the Victorian state premier, barely bothered to be diplomatic. “People are free to provide lists of demands,” Andrews said. “But the answer is no.”
And then came Nick Kyrgios, who wasted no words as he tweeted: “Djokovic is a tool.”
Even though Djokovic may have won the Australian Open a record eight times, his standing across the country has never been lower. To borrow another vivid local term, the Aussies reckon he is a flamin’ galah.