Food for thought during isolation

Confined in quarantine in Melbourne and unable to unleash their frustrations on court, the minds of some of the world’s leading tennis players have been worked into a frenzy.

French star Alize Cornet leaves her hotel for a practice session in Melbourne Picture: AFP

Confined in quarantine in Melbourne and unable to unleash their frustrations on court, the minds of some of the world’s leading tennis players have been worked into a frenzy.

While some have harnessed this energy to improvise their training inside their hotel rooms, the stress on others has only enhanced their paranoia.

The target is a familiar one. The top-ranked players are receiving preferential conditions in Australia.

And the predicament 72 players have found themselves in terms of strict lockdown has only exacerbated a commonly held view.

The orthodox thinking is the best get it better when it comes to tournaments. Advantage Serena. Or Rafa. Or Novak. As always.

This year, it is alleged the six champions and their entourages serving quarantine in Adelaide are doing so in luxury compared to the mouse-riddled rooms of Melbourne.

Well, one room, anyway. Sorry about that, Yulia Putintseva.

But it’s always been the case that some are advantaged over others.

For example, the best players get the night matches because it draws more fans to watch and more eyeballs to television screens.

Regular events offer appearance fees on top of the prize money. Superstars sell the sport. As they do in every competition around the world.

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley confirmed it in a conference call this week, discussing the controversy that has engulfed the lead-in to the year’s first major beginning on February 8.

“My general rule is that if you are at the top of the game, if you are a grand slam champion, it is just the nature of the business. You are going to get a better deal,” he said.

The mood of the locked-down brigade scarcely improved when a whisper went around that a flight to Adelaide carried a COVID-19-infected passenger, yet the superstars escaped a harsh lockdown.

Authorities in South Australia released a statement fact-checking the suggestion, yet in an era of alternative truths, it has not satisfied some tortured members of the touring hordes.

“We spoke a lot about that because some players were genuinely upset. They had a different view and that is fine,” Tiley said.

“The one advantage they do have in Adelaide is that they are able to bring their team, their coach and their physio and their manager to the courts.

“There is a limit. They cannot all do it. There are some who have to stay in the room and are not allowed to leave the room for 14 days.”

It has always been the nature of tennis that the big-name players get a better ride. They have earned it.

Some of their rivals understand it. Others are frustrated by it. But there are areas where the Adelaide posse is not as well off.

Yes, they get a balcony. And there is a gym at their hotel, but they are not allowed to use it.

They also have 30 minutes less to train outside each day.

And here is the kicker. For all the complaints about food in Melbourne, players in Victoria have the option of ordering Uber Eats to deliver from quality restaurants around town.

They even receive an additional $100 daily allowance as part of their stay in Melbourne.

In contrast, those in Adelaide do not have that option. There is no sourcing fish from Gouger Street, not even McDonald’s from Hindley Street.

In a state renowned for its fine food and wine, that has to be a blow!