EbeneInfo – GB – Nadal and Thiem suffer setbacks in coaching before the Australian Open

The pandemic has resulted in the coaching team of numerous players having trouble traveling to Melbourne

World number two Rafa Nadal and Dominic Thiem, finalist of the Australian Open last year, both suffered setbacks as their coaches were unable to make the trip down under for the first tennis Grand Slam of the year to create

Players and officials must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Australia before they can attend any warm-up events starting January 31 at Melbourne Park, where the major will be held from February 8-21

Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya said he would not travel to Australia because of the severe health restrictions

« After we spoke to Rafa, we decided I wasn’t going to travel to Australia with the team, » said Moya, a former world number one, on social media

« I will follow the tournament from home and will stay with my family, parents and children due to the delicate situation that Spain is living in with the virus. Good luck to the team »

Nadal, US. Open Champion Thiem, ranked number Novak Djokovic, the defending champion of the Australian Open, will be among the top quarantined players in Adelaide and then travel to Melbourne for the team-based ATP Cup and the Grand Slam

Thiem’s ​​trainer Nicolas Massu from Chile was not on the flight to Australia after testing positive for the novel corona virus

« Before we took off, we received the surprising message from Nicolas Massu that he had a positive test, » Thiem’s ​​father Wolfgang was quoted as saying by the Austrian daily Kurier newspaper

« Nico will be tested again in a few days. We hope that he will be negative then and that he will be able to follow suit soon »

With restrictions on arrival in Australia, it was unlikely that Massu, a former top 10 player, could be part of Thiem’s ​​team at Melbourne Park

Thiem, who lost to Djokovic in the 2020 final, will train with his Austrian compatriot Dennis Novak during the quarantine period, when the players have five hours outside their hotel rooms to prepare for the major

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Rafael Nadal, Australian Open, Dominic Thiem, Tennis, Carlos Moyá, Nicolás Massú, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Coronavirus