Despite grumbling from some players confined to quarantine, Australian Open CEO Craig Tiley says the "vast majority" of players support AO safety protocols.

Tiley announced he conducted a call with about 500 players to listen to their concerns and clarify the tournament's stance on safety measures. Most players understand the issues at stake due to the Coronavirus pandemic and are supportive of the tournament, Tiley said.

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"The vast majority, most of them have been fantastic and been supportive," Tiley told the Nine Network. "[They] know that this is the contribution that they have to make in order to get the privilege of when they do come out to compete for A$80 million in prize money.

"So we will turn the corner on those few that don't have the right approach to this. But the rest have been really good."



There are currently 72 players serving hard quarantine, which means they cannot leave their hotel rooms and cannot practice. Tiley concedes those players will be at a competitive disadvantage for the AO, which starts on February 8th and says the tournament is aiming to organize digitial yoga and spinning classes and other online fitness training players can do from their rooms.

"Yes, it's not an even playing field as far as preparation goes," Tiley said. "But we're going to play our part to try to even it up as much as possible."

Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook