Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has continued to take a dig at world number one Novak Djokovic and this time it is to do with the latter’s decision to shoot off a letter to Tennis Australia requesting for an exemption for tennis players.
Djokovic had asked of Craig Tiley, the Tennis Australia chief, in his missive a list of special requests for those players who have been quarantined for 14 days after landing in Australia.
While Tennis Australia is allowing players a total of five hours each day of training, 72 of the players have been pushed into a hard quarantine after few of the passengers on their chartered flights tested positive for the dreaded virus.
His demands included fitness material for all the quarantined players in their hotel rooms, kind of food expected for an elite tennis player, reduction of the quarantine period and more allowances of contact between player and coach to go with an attempt to get as many players to private houses where they can train in the lead-up to the Australian Open.
Not only were these requests shot down by the Victorian government, Djokovic has also been panned by Australian citizens for what have been deemed as selfish demands. And Kyrgios has jumped into the fray as well.
In a tweet, Kyrgios slammed the Serb, calling him a tool in response to a tweet posting the coverage of the Djokovic requests.
The tone of the coverage down under… #AusOpenpic.twitter.com/vDrHKaGw2K
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 18, 2021
Meanwhile Spaniard star Roberto Bautista Agut has termed the quarantine facilities as a jail with wi-fi. Speaking to Israel’s television channel Sport 5, he added:
“It’s the same (as being in prison), but with Wifi. These people have no idea about tennis and practice courts and it’s a complete disaster.”
He added the issue was to do with Tennis Australia not having the control of the illness-related situation and more a case of the government setting the guidelines. Bautista Agut also said it was difficult to manage things at a mental level with a lot more patience needed from him.
The Australian Open is expected to begin as scheduled from February 8 with no change to the format. Follow our Australian Open live blog in the lead-up to the start of the tournament here.