Sam Groth disagrees with Novak Djokovic and others about Melbourne quarantine

ATP
Monday, 18 January 2021 at 21:20
Djokovic Novak AustralianOpen2016v2

Former Australian player Sam Groth is not on the same side of the coin with Novak Djokovic and others who have asked for better conditions in the Melbourne bubble.

Groth said that the competitors knew what would wait for them in Melbourne before they landed and that they were informed about strict measures and rules inside the quarantine. Sam also mentioned the huge prize money for all the main draw players and that they should endure the quarantine and do their best to prepare for the Australian Open action.

"There are 1200 odd people have come in for the tournament whether its players, support staff coaches. Some of those calls had only 40 players on it. It's the Victorian government or the Chief health officer's decision to make, but many of these players weren't on the calls when that information was relayed. They knew that it was going to be strict coming out here. You've had players who have decided to not make the trip to Australia.

They decided based on what was on offer in quarantine from tennis Australia, so I find it hard to believe that that information wasn't relayed from Craig Tiley. The first round, prize money at the Australian Open is $100,000, and there is a benefit to them sitting in this hotel room, doing the quarantine. They're quite lucky to have an Australian Open going ahead. It's certainly a big advantage to the player who could practice, there's no doubt about that; you can't hide that fact.

The players who can practice and get off the room are definitely ahead in the game from the players stuck for this 14 days. You have to get creative. If the players that come out of this 14 days and those who give themselves any chance of doing well - maybe not in the lead-up event, but at the Australian Open a week later, are the ones that are gonna embrace their situation.

The reality is that none of these players or the people involved, the people around this are gonna come out of hotel quarantine with a positive test, they're gonna come back into the regular community in a healthy state," Sam Groth said.

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