The aftershocks of Novak Djokovic’s letter to Craig Tiley continue to be felt with Rafael Nadal also jumping into the fray on the issue of quarantine facilities at the Australian Open.
As it is already known that the top 3 men and women tennis players are spending their pre-Australian Open time in Adelaide as opposed to the rest of the field which has to live amidst harsh quarantine facilities in Melbourne. The top three are also scheduled to play an exhibition match in Adelaide on the 30th and 31st of January.
It was in regards to not that good quarantine facilities in Melbourne that Novak Djokovic had written a letter with a set of suggestions to Craig Tiley, CEO of Tennis Australia, which had caused much hue and cry.
“We all try to help each other”says Nadal
The Serbian world number one issued a list of suggestions to Tennis Australia last week on behalf of 72 players unable to leave their Melbourne hotel rooms after Covid-19 cases were detected on their planes to Australia. They reportedly included moving players into private homes with tennis courts and getting them better meals.
Also read:Australian Open: Brazilian umpire Carlos Bernardez suffers a heart attack in Melbourne
But his requests fell on deaf ears, while Australian media portrayed players as petulant and selfish and fellow star Nick Kyrgios called Djokovic a “tool”.
Sharing his thoughts about the entire episode,Spanish Great Nadal told ESPN-
“We all try to help each other. Some need to make public everything they do to help others,” he added, in remarks widely seen as referring to Djokovic.
“Others… do it in a more private way without having to publish or advertise everything we’re doing.“
Novak had even issued an open letter in which he said that his points were “suggestions and not demands” and that his intentions were misconstrued.
On the allegations of preferential treatment to top players, Nadal said-“In Adelaide, conditions have been better than most players in Melbourne.”
“But there are players in Melbourne who have larger rooms where they can develop physical activities, others have smaller rooms and can’t have contact with their coach and their physical trainer.
“Where’s the line? It’s an ethical issue. Everyone has their own opinion and they are all respectable.” he concluded.
ATP Cup schedule announced-
The match schedule for the 2021 ATP Cup, the 12-country event being played at Melbourne Park from 2-6 February, was released Monday. The tournament dates have been pushed back 24 hours to allow quarantined players the best possible preparation and training opportunities.
See Tournament Daily Schedule.
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, and Daniil Medvedev will all begin their 2021 campaigns on Day 1 of the event.
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