Pat Cash is predicting the next month of tennis will be Melbourne’s best

The 1987 Wimbledon champion and coach of Qiang Wang has defended players and said he can understand their frustrations as they attempt to prepare for a grand slam in testing conditions

Rafael Nadal training at Memorial Drive on Tuesday

Wimbledon champion Pat Cash said Melbourne is on the verge of experiencing the greatest month of tennis the city has ever seen.

But the Davis Cup star said the key to its success depends on the quarantine protocols holding up amid the dark clouds hovering over the Australian Open.

On a day where two players were among three new positive COVID-19 cases associated with the Open, Cash and his protege Qiang Wang enjoyed their first practice session at Melbourne Park.

The former world No 4 said the pair are grateful for an opportunity to not only train during quarantine but also play tennis next month.

Qiang caused a stir in Melbourne last year when defeating Serena Williams and reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2019 with a win over Australian champion Ash Barty.

Despite the current controversy, Cash said Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley deserved praise for arranging what he believes will be an incredible three weeks in Melbourne beginning on February 1.

“It is unbelievable. If you like tennis and you have tickets next month, it is literally going to be the greatest month of tennis Melburnians will ever see,” he told The Australian.

“It is phenomenal. We forget about that, as tennis players, the amount of work they have put in to make these events possible.

“We have had Davis Cup finals in Melbourne and then the Australian Open, but that is nothing compared to what we have coming up in February.

“I think most of the tennis players and the tennis teams are in awe at what they have done, if they can pull it off.”

A dual-Australian Open finalist who played in the first decider held at Melbourne Park in 1988, Cash said the drama associated with the arrival of players into the country was not ideal.

There are 72 players who are serving a strict lockdown without any opportunity to train or practise outdoors after they were on flights carrying passengers infected by COVID-19.

The 55-year-old was among the arrivals into Australia on the weekend and is respectful of the prolonged lockdown Melburnians experienced throughout winter.

Cash has endured lockdowns in London in recent months, with the conditions tightening significantly following a surge in the virus in the United Kingdom before Christmas.

But he also understands why some players are so frustrated with the circumstances they find themselves in on arriving in Australia to be locked down for fortnight.

The Melburnian said that even those who are fortunate to be able to train and prepare in a five-hour window daily will find it difficult to produce their peak form.

Cash is especially sympathetic to the plight of those who are now unable to train at all.

“The worst thing is for the players now who are frustrated they can’t do what the feel like they need to do to be in peak form,” he said.

“They have basically had the reins pulled on them. That can be really off-putting because they want to be at their best, they want to be successful and people will be paying good money to see them.

“I can see why the players are frustrated, but it is also not as if they didn’t know that was going to be the case when they arrived.”

He said while the public concern is understandable given what occurred in Melbourne last winter, he hoped those angered at the Australian Open progressing understood many players had also endured difficulties.

“It is hard to explain to people in Victoria who have been in lockdown and are nervous about being put back into lockdown, I can understand that. They look at people serving two weeks in lockdown and think, ‘Whoopdedoo’,” he said.

“But you also have to understand that most of the players have been in lockdown in their home countries as well. The most recent London lockdown is severe.

“I am wearing a little bit thin when hearing about how spoiled tennis players are. I know it has been the harshest in the world here, but a lot of the world is still being locked down. We are all taking it very seriously too.”

World No 1 Novak Djokovic was the subject of derision after a list of requests he made on behalf of his fellow players was made public.

But both Tiley and Cash believe the eight-time Australian Open champion was subjected to undue criticism.

Cash stated some of the suggestions, which included the prospect of players co-ordinating with their coach or physiotherapist at their hotel, made sense given they were already spending a five hour window working together at Melbourne Park or Albert Reserve.