This is an article “What Your Favorite Tennis Stars Did During Lockdown” by Marc Pulisci
From training on a hotel carpet in place of a hard court to practicing their volleys against high-rise windows, some of our favorite tennis stars have gotten creative during the long and many lockdown periods due to the pandemic.
No one can deny how the health crisis has affected most aspects of our lives, including the world of tennis. Before the Australian Open, we saw on social media how Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, and Britain’s Heather Watson used bed linens and tiny hallways to keep their spirits up. And, as they have discovered, carpet is not much of a substitute for the hard court.
Let’s look at how other tennis stars spent their time during lockdowns.
Roger Federer
Aside from taking a liking to streaming giant Netflix with his family, King Roger holed up in Switzerland for three months during the lockdown enjoying pasta, hiking, and throwing snowballs.
In one of his interviews, the highest-paid tennis player of the year and 20-grand slam title holder said he was happy during lockdown. His statement proves true as the champion continued to recuperate from his recent knee surgery that started in February of 2020 and continues to hinder his major title hopes this year.
On social media, Federer entertained his fans remotely via a ‘tweener’ trick shot as snow fell from the Swiss sky. However, aside from all the family fun, the champion and his wife, Mirka, also donated over $1 million to the needy families in the country who were adversely affected by the pandemic.
Rafael Nadal
While King Roger seemed at home during the lockdowns, Spanish superstar and 21-grand slam title holder Rafael Nadal felt the opposite from the beginning. Nadal expressed his dismay over how tennis players were not permitted to practice on courts due to health protocols. Wimbledon was already canceled in 2020, and all tennis activities for the year remained suspended until mid-July.
In his native Spain, the government implemented a state of alarm until the 9th of May, rendering Nadal holed up at home. During an Instagram Live interview, Rafa complained about how other people are permitted to go to work while athletes, especially in tennis, can easily practice social distancing.
However, the star stressed that he believed in the critical pandemic situation and that no matter how illogical some rules may be, they were all in place for everyone’s safety and benefit.
Left with no resort, Nadal spent most of the lockdown period sticking to his physical routines from morning until afternoon in his academy’s gymnasium.
Novak Djokovic
Perhaps, one of the most controversial lockdown stories in the tennis world involved top contender and 20-grand slam title holder Novak Djokovic.
Before the Australian Open this year, the champion and his team were quarantined by federal immigration in a hotel. The move was due to their non-compliance with COVID-19 rules. Of course, everyone knows that Djokovic was not able to participate in the first grand slam tournament of 2022 because of his non-vaccination status.
Djokovic received calls from family and friends inside his Melbourne hotel room during the Christmas holiday. He also thanked supporters via Instagram as he prepared for a court hearing a week before the major tournament opened.
Outside his Park Hotel, fans waved banners. At the same time, a priest from the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church in Melbourne requested a courtesy visit to bless the champion during the holidays but was not granted access.
Alison Riske
American Alison Riske took the time to rest with her husband, lounging and watching TV. For most of the time, at least. Of course, the former world number 18 also took some time to develop her mental strength during lockdown.
Considering that the pandemic has greatly affected everyone’s mental health, Riske emphasized the importance of a tennis player’s psychological game in the sport. She said the lockdowns paved the way for opportunities to rest physically and develop mental toughness while allowing her to be more inventive with her training routines.
Riske ran the local oval and went to public parks to practice when the USTA facilities in Orlando had to close down.
Riske runs at the local track for cardio and practices tennis at the public park because the USTA facility with its 100 courts is closed due to the pandemic. However, what captured the fans’ imagination was how she lifted bags of Tide laundry detergent as a substitute for gym weights since no nearby fitness center was open at the moment.
Though the star kept her spirits high, she also admitted that the pandemic was no laughing matter and said she complied with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. Online, the champion also got in touch with the students and faculty members of Seton LaSalle High School to grant an invitation from her sister-in-law who works at the school.
Alize Cornet
French tennis player Alize Cornet also made controversial headlines during the lockdown periods early this year for her Twitter criticisms about the Australian Open’s COVID-19 quarantine protocols.
After 72 players and their teams were required to quarantine for two weeks, Cornet labeled the move “insane,” given that competing players would waste weeks of necessary training leading up to the tournament. Eventually, the star apologized to Australian fans via a tweet wherein she acknowledged the stress the people had to endure because of the pandemic.
One good thing that came from Cornet during the quarantine period is the completion of her book Transcendence: Diary of a Tennis Addict Paperback – a part autobiographical diary and travelogue that leads up to her journey for Roland Garros in September of last year.
Cornet had also started on her second one, though she said she wouldn’t be publishing it. Still, Cornet is one of those players who understands that both smarts and intellect are essentials in the sport of tennis.
While other players complained about not being informed about quarantine rules upon arrival during this year’s Australian Open, these stars have found ways to make the most out of lockdowns. You may hear other news about other players about their quarantine experiences, but these top five are certainly one for the books.
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