Tennis umpire suffers heart attack in Melbourne hotel quarantine

Veteran tennis umpire Carlos Bernardes has reportedly suffered a heart attack inside his hotel quarantine room in Melbourne.

The Australian Open official was rushed to a Melbourne hospital and is now in a stable condition, according to Tennis News Brazil.

Bernardes was quarantining in hard lockdown alongside at least 72 other players after flying to Australia for the Australian Open, beginning February 8 at Melbourne Park.

The Brazilian website has pictures of Bernardes being wheeled out of the hotel by paramedics before being loaded into an ambulance.

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The site reports he is “doing well” and remains in hospital.

Brazilian Chair Umpire, Carlos Bernardes had a Heart Attack, but he is doing well right now https://t.co/UtEhMjBaHR

72 players and many more officials and support staff have been barred from leaving their rooms for two weeks after coronavirus cases were detected on their charter flights into the country.

Chair Umpire Carlos Bernardes officiating at Wimbledon.Source:Getty Images

Others are allowed out of their rooms for up to five hours a day to train under strictly-controlled conditions.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Thursday morning continued to campaign for his fellow colleagues stuck in lockdown, demanding better conditions and relaxed confinement.

Djokovic sent a second open letter to Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley on Wednesday morning where he justified his special treatment compared to some players in less luxurious accommodation.

Djokovic said his letter to Tiley was a “brainstorm about potential improvements that could be made to the quarantine of players in Melbourne that were in full lockdown” and not a list of demands.

“There were a few suggestions and ideas that I gathered from other players from our chat group and there was no harm intended to try and help.

“Things in the media escalated and there was a general impression that the players (including myself) are ungrateful, weak and selfish because of their unpleasant feelings in quarantine,” he wrote.

“I am very sorry that is has come to that because I do know how grateful many are.”

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