“Tennis players cannot act like they are spoiled children”

The quarantine of the Australian Open has raised blisters in the tennis world, but not everyone is against the measures taken by the organizers nor does everyone believe that things have been done in the wrong way. The Spaniard Carlos Martínez, for example, believes that the correct course is being followed given the situation.

Martinez, a long-term coach, is now in charge of preparing the Russian Daria Kasatkina, 71 in the WTA ranking and one of the young talents of Russian tennis, who has a place in the Australian Grand Slam. “Tennis Australia has called hundreds of video conferences, they have informed us of everything, of the rules that we would find in the quarantine. We have received messages and emails every week. I think they have done a great job. The only thing that was not clear was what would happen if there were positives already on the planes. At first it seemed that those who were in the same area as the infected would be isolated, but finally it was decided to isolate the entire passage, “he assures in an interview with the Italian portal Ubitennis.

Martínez regrets the complaints made by many players about the treatment they receive during the quarantine, the food or the condition of the hotel rooms in which they have been confined. “It really is strange because 72 players are in a more rigorous quarantine than the others. It could be said that it is not fair from the moment in which they will have fewer options than the rest,” he assures, but he clarifies that he does not believe that those 72 “will lose physical condition “ given that they have everything they need to train in their confinement: “It is not the same as doing it in the field, but then they will have a week to recover.”

In the opinion of the Spaniard, it is time to “follow the rules, pass the quarantine and play tennis.” “In the end, players cannot behave as if they are spoiled children (…) There are a lot of people losing their jobs and Tennis Australia can be very proud of what they have done. Otherwise we would be at home regretting not being able to play tennis. “