Social media missives inflame Open scrutiny and COVID-19 anxiousness

Months of painstaking negotiation has Australian Open organisers convinced their COVID-19 protocols will hold. But containing players from undermining them on social media is another matter.

Players touch down at Melbourne airport last week. Picture: Getty

Attend enough tennis tournaments and it becomes clear that when a player is not carrying a racquet, more often than not they will have a mobile phone in hand.

On winning Wimbledon as a teenager, Maria Sharapova headed to the stands, grabbed her dad’s phone and attempted to call her mum with the rest of the world watching.

Back in 2004, that was a first for the All England Club. But it is now very much the norm.

Almost every player has a social media account, using as many platforms as they carry racquets to express their views and promote and sell their brands to millions of fans.

On their arrival into Australia on Friday, the initial post by the majority of participants entering hotel quarantine was one of gratitude for an opportunity to play again.

Dual-Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka offered a sentiment shared by most when stating;

“Made it to Melbourne. Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here.”

Made it to Melbourne! Thank you everyone so much for making it happen. I can only imagine how many hours of work and compromise it took for us to be here! Thank you 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Jt0ywFIEj4

— victoria azarenka (@vika7) January 15, 2021

But twitchy Twitter fingers, as Tennis Australia found on Thursday when dealing with the fallout of Tennys Sandgren’s missives, can prove a double-edged sword.

When assessing the pending arrivals of more than 1200 players and coaches to Australia this week, a senior tennis official expressed quiet confidence in all but one area. The use of social media accounts.

Months of painstaking negotiations with government and health officials has those involved in ensuring the Australian Open will occur convinced the COVID-19 protocols will hold.

The regulations are by far the strictest any tennis player will have faced since the tour resumed last August, a period that includes the US and French Opens.

But policing those social media accounts, which can spark a fire that is often difficult to put out, is another matter.

As much as they might like to have whipped Sandgren’s mobile from him, confiscating a player’s phone is not an option unless there is an integrity matter at stake. Fingers crossed that does not occur when play begins.

Another flame flickered on Friday when former French and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova posted a photograph of Dayana Yastremska on a flight to Australia.

It comes just days after the Ukrainian was issued with a provisional suspension over a positive drugs test last November.

Australians are stranded overseas and Victorians stuck interstate due to border restrictions.

Yet a player facing a possible suspension for a performance enhancing drug was able to secure a spot on a plane to Melbourne?

Yastremska has the right to play pending a suspension. But exercising that right is controversial in the current climate and the post was tone-deaf in the circumstances and soon deleted by the dual-grand slam champion.

Those controversies have gifted critics including Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien an easy overhead on top of the net.

“For Daniel Andrews to prioritise bringing tennis players from COVID hotspot countries to Australia, rather than bringing home Victorians stuck interstate, it’s worse than a double fault, it is a double standard,” he said.

Tennis players and their support teams are seen disembarking Flight EY460 at Melbourne Jet Base adjoining the Melbourne International airport on January 14. Picture: Getty

Talking of double standards, this is of course the same Mr O’Brien who was pleading with the Victorian Government to open up the state and return life to normal during the lockdown.

There is a clear explanation for the Sandgren situation — he is no longer contagious after initially contracting the virus in November — but the American opened the stable door and allowed the horse to bolt with his initial public commentary.

It fuelled community consternation at a time the spotlight is understandably on the Australian Open given the arrival of players hailing from COVID-19 hot spots.

Part of the problem is that some tennis players exacerbated trust concerns early on in the pandemic with irresponsible behaviour.

Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour, arranged with good intentions as a charity fundraiser, instead became a potential COVID superspreader through Croatia and Serbia.

Alexander Zverev was pictured partying in Monaco after vowing to isolate in the days afterwards, prompting Nick Kyrgios to slam him as selfish. They were not isolated instances.

But as John Millman told The Weekend Australian, since the tour resumed in August, there have been no instances linking a positive in the general community to a player involved in a tournament.

Players and support staff will be monitored closely. They are tested daily. There is a five-hour window in which they will be able to practise, train and eat, but it too will be strictly policed.

The prospect of sparking a positive in the general community is diabolical. But the significant penalties for any possible breaches should dissuade even the most irresponsible individual.

With players of all nationalities dealing with quarantine protocols tighter than any they have experienced, expect more than a complaint or two to come to light over the next fortnight via social media.

But if dealing with a public relations crisis here and there caused by a whinge — and not a potential COVID catastrophe — prove the only concerns over the next month, there will be cause for celebration.

Until players take to the courts for competitive play on February 1, having successfully completed quarantine, Victorians and tennis officials will be holding their breath.