Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa has described her time in hotel quarantine as the worst experience of her career, saying she felt "abandoned" by Australian Open organisers.
Badosa, ranked 67th in the world, was the first player to test positive for coronavirus upon arriving in Australia ahead of the tournament and she has been in quarantine in Melbourne along with about 70 other players.
The 23-year-old said she had suffered from anxiety and claustrophobia, and has been using water bottles as weights to try to stay in shape.
"I feel abandoned because I don't have training equipment which I requested five days ago," she told Spanish newspaper Marca on Monday.
"I haven't been told which type of the virus I have, I've had no information from the tournament."
Badosa added that the room, which she is sharing with coach Javier Marti, was not suitable for an elite athlete.
"It's far and away the worst experience of my career," she said.
"The conditions here are lamentable, I wasn't expecting that.
"The number one thing people recommend when you have the virus is to open the windows to let in air, but I don't have windows in my hotel room and it's barely 15 square metres."
Badosa is due to leave quarantine on January 31, but if if she is found to have the new strain of the virus then it will be February 5. The tournament is due to begin on February 8.
"I have lost a lot of my fitness levels, especially my strength.
"If I can come out on January 31 I'll have a week to get in shape. If it's February 5 it'll be impossible to recover in time."
Health officials later said safety concerns had prevented Badosa from receiving any equipment but they were working on ways to do it.
"Our priority is supporting the health and wellbeing of those in our care and reducing the risk of transmission to protect staff and community safety," a COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) spokesperson said.
"We are supporting the delivery of exercise equipment wherever possible and safe to do so from both a health and IPC (infection prevention and control) perspective.
"CQV is in ongoing discussions with Tennis Australia about suitable equipment that can be delivered to positive and symptomatic residents, given that the equipment can't be reused and would need to be safely destroyed."
The Spaniard arrived in Melbourne after playing in Abu Dhabi earlier this month and was on her seventh day in quarantine when her test came back positive.
A total of 72 players have been confined to hotel rooms for two weeks after passengers on three charter flights taking them to Australia had tested positive.
Australian Associated Press
