Wolfgang Thiem - "We saw neither Djokovic nor Nadal"
Dominic Thiem has adapted well to the rhythm of life in the quarantine before the Australian Open. In Adelaide everything runs according to strict rules, but satisfactorily, explained father Wolfgang Thiem to tennisnet.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 21, 2021, 08:33 am
Dominic Thiem, Dennis Novak and the supervisory staff with father Wolfgang Thiem and physiotherapist Alex Stober are now in Adelaide for almost a week, so everything is going according to plan, as Thiem senior explained in an interview with tennisnet. Of course, under the special conditions that prevail in Australia.
“Every player is completely shielded, accommodated on their own floor. We have not seen Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal since we arrived at the airport together. ”The three best of the ATP charts had landed together in Australia from Barcelona, then we went straight to the hotel and the first Corona test, which all negative failed. The women housed in Adelaide, led by world number one Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep and Serena Williams, have not yet been met.
Each cohort is completely self-sufficient, continues Wolfgang Thiem. “The training is divided into three sessions, the first from 7am to 12pm, the second until 5pm, the third until 10pm. The net is four hours and 40 minutes that are used for the journey to the club, tennis training and fitness training. ”Coach Nicolas Massu, who was unable to travel to Australia after a positive corona test, is not part of the Thiem entourage.
Can Thiem train with Nadal and Djokovic?
Adelaide itself is completely free of corona infections. Whether you can actually swap training partners in the second week of the quarantine depends on the situation in Melbourne. Tennis Australia tries extremely hard, but of course everyone has to adhere to the government's strict guidelines. As is well known, Rafael Nadal has brought Jannik Sinner into the bladder as a training partner, Novak Djokovic practices with Filip Krajinovic.
As in Melbourne, the players and their supervisors have their food delivered to their rooms, the good old microwave is experiencing an unexpected renaissance in Australia these days.
"Normal" life after quarantine
In any case, there would be light on the horizon: “When the second week is over, we can live normally,” added father Thiem, who has an acquaintance in Adelaide who confirmed this to him. So it is understandable that all travelers to the country are classified as potentially positive and would first have to be in isolation.
After the end of the quarantine, an exhibition match between the players in Adelaide will continue as planned, followed by a flight to Melbourne, initially to the ATP Cup, for which the group draw will take place tomorrow, Friday. Last year Austria was eliminated in the preliminary round with group opponents Croatia, Poland and Argentina.