Australian Open players raise concerns about potential injuries, lack of preparation due to COVID-19 quarantine

New Zealand’s Artem Sitak has sympathy for players concerned about the risks of competing after two weeks stuck in their rooms, quarantining in hard isolation ahead of the Australian Open.

But the Russian-born doubles specialist says players were made aware they risked being put into quarantine before the tournament and he was going to make the best of the circumstances.

“Especially for singles players, if they have to come out and go play a singles match, it’s very difficult, it’s extremely difficult,” he said of players’ concerns.

“I hope for everyone that they’ll be fine and there will be no injuries. It could happen.

“But as I said in my [social media] post, we knew the risk we were taking and Australia being very, very strict with…