Australian Open: the unusual trainings of tennis players who are confined to their hotel rooms

01/18/2021 6:00 AM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 01/18/2021 6:00 AM

Confined to their Melbourne hotel rooms to comply with the quarantine required by the sanitary protocol - some for a couple of days, while they wait for all the tests to be completed before they can go out to train;

others, those who arrived in those three flights with positives, during the weeks, the tennis players had to bring out their creativity so as not to lose training time in the previous Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season.

From rallies against windows, walls or mattresses leaning against a wall to jogging back and forth over short distances;

from hours on stationary bikes to work with weights, ropes and other elements;

the great stars of the tennis circuits wasted no time and adapted their demanding routines to the tighter dimensions of their rooms.

One of those who shared his new methods was Juan Ignacio Londero, who is in the group of 72 players who will not be able to leave for any reason due to having arrived in Australia on one of the flights in which they were infected.

I really see few players sticking around at IG, beyond the food.

But I see Topo Londero mode putting a face on life in #Australia #AustralianOpen #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/eKUjWYvsm4

- Pedro San Martin (@sanmapedro) January 16, 2021

The man from Córdoba, 51st in the ATP ranking, showed a video in which he performed a series of arm strengthening using a support chair and some elastic bands hooked on a door.

Guido Pella, another of those who must comply with this strict quarantine since he traveled on the same flight as Londero, Diego Schwartzman and Nadia Podoroska also uploaded videos of the "adapted" training on their Instagram stories.

The Rosario, who was one of the revelations of the women's circuit last year when she reached the Roland Garros semis and entered the top 50 for the first time, could be seen working on her leg movements, while her physical trainer watched her and gave directions via cell phone from his own room.

The portable gym-simulating machine that Schwartzman uses to train during quarantine in Melbourne.

Photo Instagram @eugedemartino

Schwartzman said he took advantage of a "magic machine" from his coach,

Martiniano Orazi

, which is like a portable gym, simulates a 100-kilogram weight and allows a wide variety of exercises.

And he showed images of the training he did by video call with Federico Coria.

His girlfriend

Eugenia De Martino

, who is accompanying him on the trip, showed how the little one took advantage of even the windowsill to work the muscles of his legs.

This Sunday - already in the Australian morning on Monday -, in a live chat with his Instagram followers, the porteño, number nine in the ranking, said that he had not yet been able to leave the room to train, despite the fact that his first test since he arrived in Australia was negative.

And that the first training sessions on Monday had already been delayed again due to transportation problems. 

Diego Schwartzman even took advantage of the windowsill to train his leg muscles.

Photo Instagram @eugedemartino

The Polish

Iga Swiatek

, 2020 Roland Garros champion and one of the great figures of last season, showed how she managed to work with almost no extra elements.

The world number 17 had fun with some novel exercises and games that allowed her to train her reflexes and physical endurance.

"Quarantine training in a hotel room? Yes, you can," he wrote alongside the images he posted on Twitter.

One way to do my workout in quarantine ... my hotel room

.

Trening podczas kwarantanny w pokoju hotelowym?

Można i tak. # AusOpen pic.twitter.com/1OiItCwTnB

- Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) January 17, 2021

The British

Heather Watson

uploaded a video to her social networks in which she is seen running non-stop throughout her room.

"5K", commented who is located in the 58th step of the female ranking and accompanied the brief legend with a smiling emoticon.

The Swiss

Belinda Bencic

 and the Russian

Yulia Putintseva

were some of those who dared to grab the racket to rally against a wall or the large windows of the hotel.

Who said that players aren't able to do practice?

🎾

Instagram 🎥 @ PabloCuevas22 pic.twitter.com/KmIbiRHWvE

- Luca Fiorino (@FiorinoLuca) January 16, 2021

He was also practicing with his Pablo Cuevas racket, very active in the last hours on social networks.

The Uruguayan showed how he rehearsed with his one-handed backhand against a mattress leaning against a wall.

Although in the confinement, not everything is work.

Cuevas himself uploaded a funny video in which he demonstrated his surfer skills, only instead of a surfboard he used ... a bed.

Pablo Cuevas 😂🙈 (🎥Cuevas instagram) pic.twitter.com/SJe2ErQcXr

- Rena (@ _irenka23_) January 17, 2021

Meanwhile, the Russian

Daira Kasatkina

, who already last year during the stoppage of the circuit due to the pandemic had become a great attraction on social networks for her witty publications, returned to amuse everyone with a distance training simulation with her compatriot

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

.

Each one in their room, they recorded preparing for practice, putting on their shoes, visors and even sunscreen, greeting each other in the preview and even "exchanging" some balls.

The edited video shows up to Pavlyuchenkova's final celebration of winning the point and Kasatkina's anger. 

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A post shared by Daria Kasatkina🐬 (@kasatkina)