Yet another international tennis star at the Australian Open has had a big old sook about Australia’s sensible hotel quarantine system, and this time it’s Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut who reckons being in a cushy hotel is the same as prison.
Speaking to an Israeli sports channel, Bautista Agut had a go at the Australian government for its strict quarantine rules – the same rules which have put Australia ahead of the rest of the world in terms of how the pandemic has been handled.
“It’s like a jail here,” he said.
Exclusive: world number 13 @BautistaAgut rips the authorities in Australia ahead of AUSTRALIAN OPEN. “It’s like a jail here” pic.twitter.com/PWwQL7ngES
— Sport5 (@sport5il) January 18, 2021
“It’s the same [as prison], it’s the same,” he continued.
“These people have no idea about tennis, about practice courts, no idea about anything.
“It’s a complete disaster because of that, because of the control of everything.”
We already know people on two of the flights chartered for the Australian Open have tested positive for COVID-19, so without quarantine the virus would once again be spreading wildly in the community.
Bautista Agut made it clear he’s not blaming Tennis Australia for the conditions, but just the government.
“You can work in the room but it’s not the same,” he said.
“I feel very, very tight and I cannot imagine staying two weeks like this.”
You know who can imagine being stuck at home for an extended period? Most Aussies, and Melburnians in particular.
Tonnes of visiting tennis stars have been saying similar shit over the past couple of days. Kazakh player Yulia Putintseva has also doubled down on her complaints, although to be fair she did get stuck in a room with a mouse at the beginning.
https://twitter.com/PutintsevaYulia/status/1351370740566691840
But even the Aussie players aren’t exempt from complaining, it seems.
Luckily, Nick Kyrgios called out both Novak Djokovic and Bernard Tomic‘s girlfriend for their excessive complaining when there are literally Aussies stuck overseas trying to get home.
Spending two weeks in a hotel room is far from ideal, but it’s a very small price to pay to keep Australia safe and almost coronavirus-free.
