Belinda Bencic: This is how you go into quarantine before the Australian Open

Bencic: “He will probably come out of quarantine with a smoker’s lung”

Since arriving in Melbourne a week ago, Belinda Bencic has been quarantined for 14 days in a hotel room due to several corona positive tests on her flight. How is the Swiss.

Simon Häring / CH Media

As soon as Belinda Bencic settled in at Melbourne’s Grand Hyatt, she received the ominous news by email: Several passengers on the plane with which she flew from Abu Dhabi to Australia in mid-January had tested positive for the coronavirus. .

Local health authorities immediately imposed a 14-day quarantine. And for all travelers, and not just those in the same cohort, that Bencic originally took on. The five hours that Bencic could have spent training at Melbourne Park, on the grounds of the Australian Open, were also canceled. Now he spends his time in almost 20 square meters in a hotel room where the windows cannot be opened. Food is delivered, but there is no cleaning.

“At first I was very frustrated”

How is Bencic after mid-quarantine? Call Melbourne. «It was sad news. At first I was very frustrated, ”says Bencic. It is important for her to say that she not only understands this measure, but also considers it correct and important. The case of the Spanish Paula Badosa, who tested positive on Thursday, six days after arriving in Melbourne, shows how correct it is.

“That was a shock,” says Bencic. No one expected that you could get sick after so many days in quarantine. Bencic says: “People in Australia suffered a lot, they were locked up for five months. I can imagine how difficult it was. The last thing we tennis players want now is to bring the virus into the world and put people at risk. “

It is good that the friend is also the physical trainer

She is grateful to have the opportunity to play tennis and do her job. He does not pretend to judge whether it would not have made more sense to cancel the Australian Open. But you can understand people who think that way. “On the other hand, the tournament may also give people something positive. I know Australians love tennis. “Bencic shares his room with his friend and fitness trainer Martin Hromkovic.” That’s a huge advantage for me. It makes me work hard, “he says. He rides an ergometer in the morning, He does fitness exercises in the afternoon. Bencic even plays tennis in his bedroom, “so the muscles don’t forget how he feels.”

Belinda Bencic has weights and a medicine ball in her room. With it you can do a sensible workout. Bencic does what is in his power. However, he is afraid of injury. Muscles, tendons and joints need to be trained every day to be able to play at the highest level, he says. That is not possible to the same extent in a few square meters. “It’s like after the holidays. So it feels like I’ve never played tennis before, ”Bencic makes the comparison. The first days in quarantine were “very bad.” “Of course he was not happy and he was frustrated. I saw my chances of doing well in Australia diminish. It’s hard to accept, ”says Bencic.

Thanks to Djokovic

Bencic is particularly concerned about the inequality between the players. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Dominic Thiem, Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty, who are in Adelaide, have a balcony as big as the room of the 72 players who are under house arrest in Melbourne, but cannot even open a window. “They deserve these privileges because they are the best and because they have done more for tennis,” says Bencic. “But please don’t talk about equality and justice.” After all, Djokovic was very committed to those affected by the harsh quarantine. “Really we appreciate”.

After arriving in Melbourne and hearing the news, a lot of things were complicated and chaotic, and the players were portrayed as spoiled troublemakers complaining about the quarantine, bad internet, food, and all. That is why he was carried away by an exchange of blows with a Twitter user. “A lot of negative things came in, a lot of hatred. That was uncomfortable. There were many misunderstandings because many falsehoods were spread.

With the kettle against the dust

Belinda Bencic looks orderly, even confident, this Friday night, local time, in the middle of her quarantine. Is the impression correct? «My friend is a person who thinks positively in every situation. That is contagious, ”says Bencic. The dust in the room gives you trouble. The hotel cannot provide you with a vacuum cleaner and it is not possible to ventilate. “We do everything in this room: eat, sleep, train intensely.”

With the kettle they tried to improve the air quality. With moderate success. “He’ll probably come out of quarantine with a smoker’s lung,” jokes Bencic. “I’m looking forward to the fresh air, the tennis and the sun.” The time has come on January 29. Then Bencic is allowed to leave his room for the first time.