Australian tennis
player Nick Kyrgios criticised world number one Novak Djokovic
for reportedly issuing a list of demands for quarantined players who
have arrived in Melbourne and Adelaide on chartered flights, reports AFP.
Kyrgios took to
twitter to express disappointment in Djokovic, who purportedly wrote a letter
to Australian open seeking ease in quarantine restriction among other demands.
“Djokovic is a
tool,” Kyrgios tweeted while sharing a
news report and also taking an aim at fellow Australian player Bernard Tomic’s girlfriend, Vanessa
Sierra, after she complained in an online video about cold food and having to
wash her own hair in quarantine.
Djokovic also demanded moving quarantined players into private homes with tennis courts and getting them better meals.
Kyrgios joined a
wave of criticism of the Serb for reportedly issuing a list of demands for
quarantined players who have arrived in Melbourne and Adelaide on chartered
flights.
Among others to
join the backlash was Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews who smashed Djokovic’s
demands saying “there’s no special treatment here. Because the virus
doesn’t treat you specially, so neither do we.”
The arrival of
more than 1,000 players and staff, including four people who tested positive,
has raised hackles in a country which is largely coronavirus-free, and
especially in Melbourne which came out of a four-month lockdown in October.
At least 72
players, including the 33-year-old Serb have been barred from leaving their rooms for two weeks after
coronavirus cases were detected on their charter flights into the country.
Others
include Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Rafael Nadal — who were allowed to
fly into Adelaide where they enjoy better facilities such as balconies on their hotel
rooms, unlike the majority in Melbourne, the Australian Open’s host city.