Serena Williams took her daughter to the zoo and Novak Djokovic walked barefoot in a park as the stars of tennis emerged from a fortnight of quarantine ahead of the coronavirus-delayed Australian Open.
More than 1,000 players, coaches and officials jetted into largely virus-free Australia this month for 14 days' lockdown ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year, with most allowed out for just five hours of daily supervised training.
Big guns Williams, Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka were among a select group that served their time in Adelaide rather than Melbourne ahead of an exhibition in the southern city on Friday.
Seven-time Australian Open winner Williams, who is gunning for one more Slam title to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 at next month's tournament, spent her two weeks holed up with three-year-old daughter Olympia.
"I'm so glad the quarantine is over because to be in a room with a three-year-old and being her best friend is definitely difficult, especially after training and working out and then it's like, oh my gosh, it never ends," said Williams.
"But it was fun... honestly I wouldn't trade anything for spending hours with her."
Asked what she did on her first day of freedom, Williams said they headed to the zoo.
"We had a calendar in our room and every day we marked an x on the days that went by and a big circle on the quarantine ending day, and we promised that we would take her to the zoo to see koalas and kangaroos," said the American.
She later played her first match of the season, with Olympia among a packed crowd at Memorial Drive, beating a sometimes-erratic world number three Osaka 6-2, 2-6 (10/7).
Djokovic only played one of his two scheduled sets against Jannik Sinner due to a large blister on his right hand, winning 6-3 in his first competitive game of the year.
"We didn't play in front of this big a crowd in 12 months so this is something very special," he said, having earlier opted for a quiet walk to celebrate finishing quarantine.
"You know, just putting bare feet on the ground, just doing something that I didn't have a chance to do so, just having the space I think that's what we all kind of missed," the 17-time Grand Slam winner said.
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THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
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- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
