BEVERLY HILL, January 14, (THEWILL) – Ahead of the professional tennis season opener, the Australian Open, world number two Rafa Nadal and last year’s Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem have both suffered setbacks as their coaches are unable to make the trip Down Under.
Tennis Australia has mandated players and officials to undergo a compulsory 14-day quarantine on arrival in Australia before they can participate in warm up events from Sunday, January 31 at Melbourne Park. The Slam, which is scheduled for February 8-21, will be held thereafter.
Carlos Moya, who is Nadal’s coach, said he was not travelling to Australia due to the strict health restrictions imposed on players and teams. The 44-year-old former world number one went on social media to say: “After speaking with Rafa, we have decided that I won’t travel to Australia with the team.
“I will follow the tournament from home and will stay with my family, parents and kids due to the delicate situation that Spain is living with the virus. Best of luck to the team.”
For Thiem, his coach Nicolas Massu of Chile tested positive for COVID-19 and was not on the flight out to Australia with Thiem and the team. Thiem’s father, who was on the flight, said: “Before we took off, we received the surprising message from Nicolas Massu that he had a positive test.
“Nico will be tested again in a few days. We hope that he will be negative then and he will be able to follow suit soon.”
However, the strict arrival restrictions in place in Australia will most likely rule out the possibility that Massu, a former top 10 player himself, will be part of Thiem’s team at the event.
Thiem will train with fellow Austrian player Dennis Novak to prepare for the major during the quarantine period when the players are allowed five hours outside their hotel rooms.
The trio of Nadal, Thiem and defending Australian Open winner, Novak Djokovic are among top players quarantining in Adelaide. After, they will head to Melbourne for the team-based ATP Cup and the Grand Slam proper beginning on February 8.
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