Australian Open boss says two-week bio-secure bubble will replace hotel quarantine in 2022

Yulia Putintseva walks off court after her third-round defeat at the 2021 Australian Open. The Kazakh's quarantine was disrupted by mice in her hotel room

A two-week bio-secure bubble is set to replace hotel quarantine at next year's Australian Open, say tournament bosses.

The restrictions drew complaints from players, with some forced to isolate in their rooms for the duration.

Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley said the bubble would allow players "to move freely between the hotel and courts".

Speaking to Australia's Nine Network, Tiley added: "They're protected, they're kept safe among themselves and safe from the community as well. And after those two weeks they'll come out and be able to compete in the Australian Open in front of crowds."

He also confirmed that the tournament's organisers were working with the Australian government and health authorities on decisions around crowd numbers at the grand slam in Melbourne.

While some players were allowed up to five hours training time on closed courts at the 2021 open, 72 who had been in contact with positive Covid-19 cases on flights to Australia had to isolate entirely in their rooms - a situation that Tiley said players would be unlikely to accept again.

Frustrations were aired by many players including world number one Novak Djokovic who demanded restrictions be lifted. Bernard Tomic's girlfriend complained about food at the hotel being served cold.

And France's Alize Cornet said two week's inactivity followed by matches could cause injuries, describing the situation as "insane" before later deleting the tweet.

The complaints drew the ire of locals who have been subject to closed borders and lockdowns throughout the pandemic, despite having some of the lowest coronavirus case numbers in the world.

Aussie Nick Kyrgios also gave the moaners short shrift, calling Djokovic "a tool" on Twitter, while Spain's Paula Badosa, one of the complainers, apologised after testing positive.

Players including Britain's Johanna Konta and Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva posted videos of themselves practising and exercising inside their hotel rooms.

To make matters worse, hotels also experienced an infestation of mice. Putintseva filmed one of the rodents in her room and was subsequently moved, but later said her new room also had mice.

Melbourne is currently under a local lockdown, but Tiley said he was hopeful Australia will reach its target of vaccinating 80% of adults by November.

"That will certainly help the situation for the event in January," he said.