The governing body of British Tennis has defended their policy concerning COVID-19 after two of their top players questioned their management of the rules.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has hit out at the LTA after he was forced to miss the Australian Open due to a positive result. Players have to quarantine in the country for 14 days before they are allowed to play in professional tournaments. Murray said he felt unwell for roughly a week but has since recovered and is now in Italy where he will play in a Challenger tournament.
Speaking to British media over the weekend, Murray has implied that the only way he would have caught the virus is at the National Tennis Center in Roehampton. The venue where some of the country’s top players have been practicing during the off-season and is also where the Battle of the Brits tournament took place in December.
Murray says the protocols implemented were somewhat relaxed during the Christmas period where there was a series of positive tests. Including fellow player Paul Jubb and even a doctor who was working at the facility. BBC Sport has also reported that others have privately raised concerns about the lack of social distancing and mask wearing.
“When we went to the NTC in April, if there are six indoor courts, you could only practise on one, three and five. There wasn’t any testing at that time, but the gym was closed and it was restricted access,” said Murray.
“Whereas after Christmas you have an indoor venue where they are using all six courts, there were tonnes of people in the gym, and it was just totally different.
“Now it’s kind of back to what it was in April, which is good. It’s a completely different building. All the communal areas are severely restricted, like the lunch hall; there’s probably seven or eight seats maximum in there now, before there would have been 30 to 40.
“But the reality is that it happened too late because there were quite a number of cases between Christmas, New Year and the players going off to Australia.”
The accusations of questionable management of the protocols at the NTC from Murray is also backed up by another player. Following his semi-final win at the Murray River Open, Dan Evans agreed that rules were lax during the Christmas period. The 30-year-old, who won his first ATP title on Sunday, didn’t catch the virus.
“I think the Christmas period and the new year period they maybe slackened a little bit,” he said.
“The doctor had COVID, as well, so that coincided with I think players then getting it when she was isolating. It wasn’t ideal, but I can’t speak to say that they were lax or not because I wasn’t really privy to see it.”
One of the problems Evans believed occurred was the rules surrounding who could play at the center to begin with. He says the focus should have been placed on players who are preparing for the upcoming season and tournaments but he saw people playing there weren’t doing such a thing.
On the other hand, others have hailed the LTA for their management. Murray’s brother Jamie said the outbreak of cases was ‘unfortunate’ but stated that he doesn’t hold the LTA accountable. Pointing out that over Christmas there was a surge in cases around the UK and players were travelling to the NTC from various hotspots.
“It’s just a shame that in this moment they had some positive tests and it happened to be Andy, which is obviously a big shame with the amount of work that he’s put in to get to this point to prepare himself for Australia, and all that’s down the drain,” Jamie told The Press Association.
“I was gutted for him, obviously, as was he, I’m sure, very frustrated.”
Responding to the allegations, the LTA has issued a statement outlining that they always followed government recommendations throughout and have done their best to minimise the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak. Although they did not address the allegation of a lapse in rules during the Christmas period which both Murray and Evans have mentioned.
“We have consistently applied the stringent and appropriate restrictions, testing and other protocols for elite training centres in line with government guidance,” the LTA said in a statement.
“We have worked closely with Public Health England in order to keep the centre open since April for both training and as a host venue for over 1000 competitive matches across 17 tournaments on site.
“Our protocols are regularly communicated to everyone using the venue and we expect them to be adhered to in the player lounge and all other areas of the building.”
Opened in 2007 the NTC has 20 courts, a high performance gym and ice baths. It provides training services for the British Men’s, Women’s & Wheelchair high performance teams, coach education and competitions.