Roberto Bautista Agut compared the quarantine in the bubble in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open to a jail.
Bautista Agut criticised the 2021 Australian Open bubble.
“It’s the same to prison, but with WIFI. These people have no idea about tennis, about practice courts. It’s a complete disaster because of the control of everything. It’not Tennis Australia, it’s the people from the government”, said Bautista Agut.
The former world number 10 and reigning Davis Cup champion issued an apology saying that his words were taken out of context.
“I want to apology to everyone who has been offended by the video that was posted about me recently. It is a private conversation taken of contect that has unfortunately been released to the media without my knowledge or consent”, wrote Bautista Agut on his twitter account.
The Spanish player said that he is following the strict guidelines issued by the Australian Government.
“Both my coach and I are following the protocols designed by the Australian Government and Tennis Australia to avoid any risk and guarantee to compete again in a safe way. These are hard times for athletes and society in general.”
Bautista Agut made his Australian Open debut in 2012 as a qualifier, when he was still ranked outside the world number 100 spot. He won his first match at Melbourne Park in 2013 against Italy’s Fabio Fognini in five sets and reached the fourth round in 2014 after a hard-fought win over Juan Martin Del Potro in just under four hours.
Bautista Agut reached the round of 16 in 2016 and 2017 and the quarter final in 2019 after beating Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets. In 2020 Bautista lost to Marin Cilic in five sets in the third round. He clinched nine ATP titles and reached a career-high of world number 9. He earned his 300th win when he beat Tennys Sandgren in the US Open first round. He reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon in 2019.
