Australian Open 2022: French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reveals her Covid-19 diagnosis

An increasing number of tennis players are testing positive to Covid-19 on the road to next month’s Australian Open.

The snowballing group of Covid-infected tennis stars has another member.

French Open finalist and world No.11 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova revealed on Thursday that she tested positive to the virus on arrival in Melbourne two days earlier.

Pavlyuchenkova was set to be the top seed at one of next week’s Melbourne WTA 250 events, where dual Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka will end her four-month tour sabbatical.

Fellow Russians Andrey Rublev, Aslan Karatsev and Evgeny Donskoy withdrew from the ATP Cup on Wednesday because they, too, contracted Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, I have some bad news. I arrived in Australia on Tuesday and tested positive for Covid-19,” Pavlyuchenkova wrote on Twitter.

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has revealed she tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving in Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

“I was fully vaccinated and was preparing for the start of the season in Dubai. But we live in a very difficult and unpredictable time.

“Right now I am in complete isolation, in a special hotel and following all the protocols under the supervision of doctors.

“Now it’s important to take care of yourself and the health of others. I’ll be back on court when it’s safe for everyone.”

The Melbourne Summer Set event is due to start on Monday, meaning Pavlyuchenkova will be unable to clear the minimum 10-day isolation period in time to play.

But the three-time Australian Open quarter-finalist still has almost three weeks to recover for the first grand slam of the year.

Tunisia’s world No.10 Ons Jabeur is recovering from Covid-19. Picture: Getty Images

Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley warned last week there would be positive cases and that prediction has come to fruition in large numbers.

Rafael Nadal, Rublev, Denis Shapovalov, Ons Jabeur and Belinda Bencic caught the virus after playing in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, while Emma Raducanu didn’t even make it to the event.

Frenchman Benoit Paire announced his own positive test on Wednesday after previously having the virus on the eve of the 2020 US Open.

There are likely many more cases that have not been announced, given the swath of withdrawals from Australian Open lead-in events.

The WTA 500 Adelaide International is particularly ravaged, with top-10 stars Karolina Pliskova, Barbora Krejcikova and Jabeur out as well as a bunch of other top-100 talent.

The ATP Cup, which starts on Saturday, will be without Novak Djokovic, Nadal, Rublev and Dominic Thiem.