Preparation for the 2021 Australian Open, set to begin on Feb. 8, has been filled with controversy due to the tournament's strict quarantine rules around players and COVID-19 testing. Now, an entirely separate problem has scurried into the tournament.
Kazakh star Yulia Putintseva, the No. 28 ranked women's tennis player in the world -- has been dealing with mice in her hotel rooms. She's documented the entire situation on her social media page. Adding even more fuel to the drama is that local authorities believe players quarantining in the hotel are to blame for the situation.
Victoria state police minister Lisa Neville has requested all hotel guests not feed the mice in question. Seriously.
Here's what Neville said, via GulfNews.com:
"As I understand there may have been some feeding going on. I'd just encourage them to minimize interaction with the mice, we will keep doing pest control if we need to, but hopefully that pest control work that was done this week will have fixed the problem."
Putintseva wrote on Twitter that she switched hotel room because she saw a mouse in her original room. In the new room, she claimed there were multiple mice -- and has video to prove it.
Here's a look at the current hotel situation:
it’s actually a lot of them! Not even 1 in my room now🤦🏼♀️ pic.twitter.com/uUaicOhoB5
— Yulia Putintseva (@PutintsevaYulia) January 19, 2021
Due to the unwanted roommates, she wrote that she was trying to get a rodent-free room, but the switch wasn't easy.
"Been trying to change the room for a 2 hours already," Putintseva said. "And no one came to help due to quarantine situation."
When she finally did get another room, she was greeted by ... more rodents.
Different room same story🤦🏼♀️ wanted to go to sleep but noooope! pic.twitter.com/REZu1LqDMv
— Yulia Putintseva (@PutintsevaYulia) January 19, 2021
She gave another update, explaining, "Cool now the reception told me the hotel is full and that they cant help its a joke."
MouseGate continues for now, but don't expect any of the players to rat each other out.