Dominic Thiem: '70 players can't go out and train, but they knew that could happen'

World no. 3 Dominic Thiem serves his quarantine in Adelaide, staying there for a week now and following all the rules and measures, like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Thiem spends between four and five hours outside his room, training and taking care of his fitness before returning to his room for the rest of the day. The US Open champion is not pleased that around 70 players can't go out and hit the practice court in Melbourne for two weeks, which should be a massive disadvantage for them once the official matches start. Still, the Austrian reminded that they all knew what could happen in the quarantine and that the organizers did their best to keep everyone safe. Thiem reached the final at the last year's Australian Open, losing to Novak Djokovic in five sets.

"It's been crazy Down Under, but we knew what to expect. Here in Australia, it's a bit stricter again, which is understandable. The coronavirus is almost extinct in their country, and they want to prevent it from being brought back in. We can train for about two hours a day and go out for about four hours.

Rafael Nadal shared his thoughts about the Australian quarantine.

The rest of the time is spent in the hotel. Honestly, for the 70 players who were on the planes, it is, of course, very bitter. They will undoubtedly be at a serious competitive disadvantage once the matches start, that's for sure. There are still nine days until the start of the Australian Open, but in contrast to the others who can train normally, this is a considerable disadvantage; there's no need to discuss that. It was unbelievably unfortunate for them, and I feel very sorry for them. But of course, everyone knew what they were getting into.

Tennis Australia and the whole country have tried everything to let the tournament take place, which is also a sensational achievement. It sounds harsh now, but there are only 70 players in quarantine, everyone else in Melbourne can train normally, but it would be unfair to everyone else who made the long journey if the tournament were to be canceled now. It was everybody's own decision to travel here; nobody had to do it. I believe the tournament will take place. 2020 was sensational from a sporting point of view. The feeling of winning a Major was the best I've ever experienced in my tennis career; I want to achieve that again, and Paris is probably the big goal. It's probably been my favorite tournament since my junior final, and I've always played very well there in the last few years. Next to the other big tournaments, it's the event that has the highest priority," Dominic Thiem said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3c6SQXt