If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that quarantine sucks.
But it's something that has to be done if we want to enjoy the finer things in life, such as live sporting events.
Over the last few days, some of the biggest names in tennis have touched down in Melbourne for the 2021 Australian Open.
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And while a small minority have already started complaining (mainly Novak Djokovic), others are making the most of their compulsory hotel stay.
The recent international flights linked with four positive COVID-19 cases has seen tensions rise within the safeguarded Melbourne bubble.
A number of players have now come out and publicly criticised the strict training times, the substandard food options and the favouring of other stars.
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But it seems not everyone is focused on how the government-imposed coronavirus regulations are being policed.
Vision has emerged from the athlete hotel of players making the most of their 14-day quarantine by finding creative ways to train in isolation.
World number 68 Pablo Cuevas was seen hitting a tennis ball against the mattress of his bed.
The Uruguayan had somehow managed to balance his mattress up against his hotel room wall so that he could rifle the ball into it.
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And it surprisingly provided a decent enough cushion so that he could play continuous shots.
Elsewhere, Swiss fan favourite Belinda Bencic took to social media to share her unique training methods.
In a video posted on her Twitter, the world number 12 can be seen gently hitting a tennis ball into a glass window that looks out onto the Melbourne skyline.
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She's even gone as far as taping a line across the window to replicate the net.
"Wrong surface but that doesn't matter for us," she said in her caption.
And while these two players are well and truly making the best of a bad situation, the same can't be said for men's world number one Djokovic.
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The Serbian star, who has had his fair share of run-ins with COVID-19, recently penned a personal letter to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley to complain about the standards he was living in.
The letter reportedly made six demands for isolating players, asking for:
1. Fitness and training material in all rooms.
2. Decent food for elite athletes.
3. Reduce the days of isolation for players in hard isolation and carry out more tests to confirm they are negative.
4. Permission to visit your coach or physical trainer, as long as both have passed the PCR.
5. The player and their coach to be on the same floor of the hotel, as long as both have passed the PCR.
6. Move as many players as possible to private houses with a tennis court to train.
Djokovic isn't exactly the most likeable character among tennis fans and this kind of proves why.
As for the Australian Open tournament itself, that's still scheduled to go ahead from February 8.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Tennis, Tennis news, Australian Open, Coronavirus, Novak Djokovic, Australia, Covid-19
