Freedom and some good old Australian sunshine is on the menu for one of our leading tennis players.
After being locked down in his room for the past fortnight in Melbourne, Marcus Daniell is out but his next big hurdle is getting ready to play in a few days with the Australian Open in a week.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, Daniell was officially let out and he admitted to 1 NEWS he “let out a whoop” when it happened.
“A big smile on the face,” Daniell said.
“We jumped in the car, windows down, fresh air in the face until we got to our apartment.”
Now Daniell’s attention is on training within the Australian Open bubble, although he admitted it’s hard adjusting to his new-found freedom.
“Two weeks inside then going out into the Australian summer - my face probably looks pale,” Daniell joked.
“I'm loading up on the sunscreen and the zinc.”
Coach Clint Packer was initially locked up as well but because he flew straight from Wellington, he was released early.
Packer said he’ll be easing his players such as Daniell back into the action.
“You sit in a room with air conditioning with no sun for two weeks, then pop out in total heat in Australia. It can be really dangerous,” Packer said.
“First three or four sessions are going to be really important that we control ourselves; the boys are really excited but they can't be too excited.”
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