Our tennis stars have not enjoyed much of a home court advantage at the Australian Open
From the Centrelink queue to quarantine lockdown – our home grown Aus Open hopes have not had an easy road to their own grand slam.
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Chris O’Connell’s Australian Open preparations hit a brick wall last month, when Sydney’s Northern Beaches suddenly went into coronavirus lockdown.
It was another roadblock for the 26-year-old, who fought his way from a series of injury setbacks and the Centrelink queue to win his first grand slam match in September and be on the verge of the top 100.
Fortunately, O’Connell was able to tee up some nearby practice on a family friend’s private court.
He’d already been hindered by COVID-19 protocols, being cooped up in quarantine for two weeks without treatment on his right ankle, after tearing ligaments in his last tournament of the year.
O’Connell’s ankle issue was persistent enough that he required a cortisone injection three weeks ago, but he finally lobbed in Melbourne on Tuesday feeling “100 per cent”.
“It was a pretty stressful few days, not knowing what to do or when the borders would open up,” the world No. 120 told News Corp Australia Sport.
“But I’m down in Melbourne now, so it’s all smooth running.”
O’Connell’s now part of the Australian rotation – including Ash Barty, John Millman, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Dylan Alcott and Sam Stosur – training daily at Xavier College and Kooyong.
Another Sydneysider, Aleks Vukic, whose Parramatta region was deemed a coronavirus ‘red zone’ for even longer, is expected to arrive in Melbourne Sunday.
Meanwhile, Millman joined fellow players such as James Duckworth and Maddison Inglis in state hopping from Brisbane to Canberra and eventually Melbourne, because of Queensland’s own related dramas.
Then there’s world No. 52 Jordan Thompson, who left behind Sydney’s COVID concerns to train alongside Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur’s doubles partner, Matt Reid, in Canberra.
That’s just part of the Australians’ story so far, in what’s been an extraordinary build-up to this year’s Australian Open, one which could still prove a major opportunity for the locals.
As is well-documented, 72 tennis players planning to compete at Melbourne Park are locked in ‘hard’ quarantine after being identified as close contacts of a positive case.
Only one of those players, Spain’s Paula Badosa, tested positive herself, while Perth teenager Tristan Schoolkate was on the Doha flight where another positive was recorded.
No one in that group’s been able to leave their hotel room since landing in Australia and won’t be able to for at least 14 days.
Ajla Tomljanovic is one Australian in ‘soft’ quarantine, meaning she can leave her hotel room for five hours each day – under strict supervision – to train on court and in the gym, as well as eat on-site.
Croatian star Donna Vekic is her nominated training partner.
“I practised at 11.30am and I just got back to the room, so the day is almost over – I can’t really complain,” Tomljanovic said.
“Also, I have a connecting room with my dad (Ratko), so I have someone to talk to and, honestly, this doesn’t feel too much like quarantine.”
Tomljanovic won a round at the season-opening Abu Dhabi event, then boarded one of the charter flights to Melbourne.
Badosa was on a different Abu Dhabi plane, the same one 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu’s coach, Sylvain Bruneau, earlier revealed he tested COVID-19 positive on.
“I’m still crossing my fingers that it all stays good until the end, but when I heard about the first (Abu Dhabi flight), I was sure my flight would have someone,” Tomljanovic said.
“So I tried to prepare myself for the hard lockdown – but I was very, very lucky.
“I feel very bad for all the players in the strict lockdown, but at this point there’s nothing we can do, so I just hope they make the best of it.”
Antalya titlist de Minaur and the Australians who contested qualifying, including Bernard Tomic, are also in quarantine.
No local man or woman has claimed an Australian Open singles championship since Chris O’Neil’s shock triumph as an unseeded competitor in 1978.
Mark Edmondson, of course, won the men’s title two years earlier in even more surprising fashion, as the world No. 212 – still the lowest ranking of any grand slam champion in the Open Era.
John Marks, Kim Warwick, Pat Cash (twice) and Lleyton Hewitt have finished runner-up in the years since, as did Wendy Turnbull on the women’s side in 1980.
However, Barty (2020 semi-finals and 2019 quarter-finals) and Kyrgios (2015 quarter-finals) are the only Australians to go beyond the round of 16 in the past decade.
Daria Gavrilova (twice), Tomic (three times), Casey Dellacqua and Hewitt are the only other local hopes to reach the fourth round in that period.
Whether that changes or not, there’s a distinct confidence in the Aussie camp that they can capitalise on this year’s circumstances.
“It’s one of the biggest opportunities for the Aussie guys,” Melbourne’s Marc Polmans told News Corp Australia Sport, after a season he won a round at two grand slams.
“I’ve been in Melbourne now for the last two, three months training for the Australian Open, so my preparation can’t really be much better.
“Being in (hard) quarantine is going to hinder their physical preparation and mental side. They must be furious – I know I’d be furious – but those are the rules, so that’s what they have to do.”
Thompson and O’Connell shared the same sentiments this week, albeit still with some cautiousness.
“These guys are in the top 100 for a reason, so even with the preparation they’re getting, they’ll still be incredibly tough,” O’Connell said.
Millman, who’s only five places off his career-high ATP ranking of No. 33, might be the one to watch, if his always-stellar practice form is any gauge.
There will also be expectation on boom prospect Alexei Popyrin, after consecutive third-round efforts the past two years.
“It’s awesome to see guys receive a wildcard, then show their level and that they can go deep in slams,” Polmans said.
“‘Demon’ (de Minaur) is consistently having good runs at the AO and Millman, too, so that’s definitely my next goal, to get past that second-round stage at a slam.”
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