The start of 2021 was quite bad for the tennis world. Due to positive cases, in which some people board two planes to Australia, flight players must now spend 14 days in solitary confinement without any training opportunities, rendering previous preparations completely useless.
In fact, there is very little time left for the Australian Open, which is slated on 8 February: the next few days will be of vital importance to tennis players for the first Grand Slam in a month’s time in Melbourne’s extreme heat Will fight to win the season.
Badosa: “They were not rules”
Among those aboard a flight from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne – the second of which registered a positive case – was Spaniard Paula Badosa, currently ranked 70th in the world.
Paula was born in 1997 and reached the round of 16 in the final edition of Roland Garros, where she defeated Kateyna Kozlova, Sloane Stephens and Jelena Ostapenko before losing in straight sets to German Laura Saigmond.
The Spaniard commented on Twitter as to the situation: “Initially, the rule was that only those in the level section of those who tested positive had to complete quarantine.
Not a full plane. Changing the rules at the last minute is not right. It is also not appropriate to live in a room with no windows or ventilation. “Badosa started a live discussion on Instagram with Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (present on the same plane) and answered questions.
In Melbourne, the Spanish tennis player played in the second round: this happened last year when he defeated Joanna Larsen before losing to Petra Quitova by a score of 7-5, 7-5. Kostyuk, 18, is now 99 years old.
WTA ranked world ranking and has already participated in this tournament in 2021 in Abu Dhabi, where she was defeated in two sets by Veronica Kudermatova in the semi-finals.
