Uncaged and ready for a slice of action

MELBOURNE • Australian Open quarantine facilities are still holding 15 people, including one player and two others who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in their lockdown, Melbourne health authorities said yesterday.

The vast majority of the more than 1,000 players and their entourages undergoing 14 days of isolation in Melbourne and Adelaide were released by midnight on Saturday and have started preparing for the year's first Grand Slam.

Spain's Paula Badosa was the only player to have confirmed a positive test for Covid-19 in Melbourne, restarting the clock on her mandatory period of isolation and putting in doubt her participation at the hard-court Major.

While Perth yesterday entered a five-day lockdown after reporting its first local case in almost 10 months, Victoria state yesterday reported no local transmission of the virus for the 29th straight day.

According to Open tournament chief Craig Tiley, the priority for his organisation remains the health of the local community.

"No one is coming out of quarantine unless it is absolutely proved that they are not incubating the virus," he told ABC TV yesterday.

"They've had a test every day, there's no quarantine process in the world that has been as rigid as this one.

"The players are in the community, and they are like us, and we have to keep practising the health protocols to keep us safe."

French Open champion Iga Swiatek said the 14-day quarantine had been comfortable, although she counted herself lucky she had not been one of the 72 players who were not allowed out to practise because of Covid-19 cases on board their flights to Australia.

"Obviously, I sometimes needed to go out, to breathe some fresh air, but I couldn't do that (but) it's not a problem," the 19-year-old Pole said at Melbourne Park.

"I'm really glad and I really appreciate that we have a chance to play and to do our job, to do what we love."

That attitude was reflected by most players who spoke to the media after quarantine, a far cry from the early days of isolation when complaints on social media were commonplace.

Tiley, who managed to defuse that criticism with long daily video calls with the players, revealed there had been some unusual requests from athletes in lockdown.

"The most bizarre request was for a kitten but then we explained that there was a correlation between the coronavirus and kittens so that one went away," he laughed.

"There was someone who asked if there was a chance of getting some animals indigenous to Australia (and) there were a few times I wouldn't have minded having a boxing kangaroo in there."

The countdown to the Open, which starts next Monday, began yesterday with two WTA 500 warm-up events - the Yarra Valley Classic and the Gippsland Trophy.

Both tournaments are being held at Melbourne Park, the site of the Open.

World No. 1 and home favourite Ashleigh Barty headlines Yarra Valley, alongside 23-time Major singles champion Serena Williams, while second-ranked Simona Halep and world No. 3 Naomi Osaka are the main attractions at Gippsland.

All four stars, who received byes to the second round, will only be in action today, but Serena's older sister, Venus, yesterday opened her season with a 6-1, 6-3 thrashing of Arantxa Rus.

The 40-year-old American showed few signs of having spent 14 days in quarantine, marking her 27th year since turning professional by grinding down her Dutch opponent in 65 minutes.

"It's awesome to be back, I love Australia," the seven-time Slam singles champion said.

"It wasn't easy to get here. Many thanks to Tennis Australia for making this happen."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS