Chardy denounces privileges towards Djokovic and Nadal in Australia

The quarantine that the first three tennis players in the ATP ranking (Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem) and the WTA ranking (Ashleigh Barty, Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka) will fulfill in Adelaide, where they will play an exhibition tournament at the end of this month, has sowed controversy among several rackets in the peloton, which must comply with the quarantine prior to the Australian Open under strict restrictions to avoid contagion by coronavirus.

One of the most critical tennis players with the quarantine of Djokovic, Nadal or Barty has been the French Jéremy Chardy, who in statements collected by the newspaper L'Équipe denounced that tennis players who are quarantined in Adelaide will have more privileges than those who stay in Melbourne. “This announcement of the quarantine of the top three in the ATP and WTA rankings in Adelaide seems unexpected and suspicious to me, to put it mildly. The best in the world will have the opportunity to use a gym in the hotel and training outside the five hours allowed. They will be able to leave. They will lead almost a normal life and already have many privileges “

Chardy also comments that the tennis players who will go to Adelaide will have better preparation than them for the Australian Open. And he even wonders what would have happened to Roger Federer if he had finally gone to the Australian Grand Slam under these conditions. “If they can do more activities than us, they will not have the same preparation. And that seems strange to me for a sport in which equality is supposed to exist. If I were the fourth in the world I wouldn't have this privilege! And what would have happened if Federer had played in Australia? “