The World No. 1 in Tennis, Novak Djokovic on Tuesday confirmed that he and his wife have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. They join a list of players who have been infected after they took part in an exhibition tennis tournament in Balkans.
In a statement, the news was confirmed and the player also apologized for the event. He also said that he had no symptoms as yet. The event, Adria Tour, was organized by Novak Djokovic and his brother. They were heavily criticized for not following the safety protocol. Other popular players too tested positive after the tournament. Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, and Viktor Troicki are some of them.
More Players In Danger
According to a news channel of Croatia, Novak Djokovic’s coaches and a member of his entourage too tested positive for the virus. Viktor Troicki had played a match with Djokovic last week in Belgrade while Dimitrov and Coric played against each other. In the second leg of the Adria Tour that happened in Zadar along the Croatian Adriatic Coast, Dimitrov was beaten by Coric. Dimitrov later withdrew from the tournament as he complained of feeling unwell.
On Sunday, Djokovic was supposed to play Russia Andrey Rublev in the final but it was canceled immediately. Djokovic also happens to be the President of the ATP Player Council.
The Adria Tour was supposed to fill the gap in the Tennis calendar that had occurred due to the pandemic. There wasn’t a single tennis match played since mid-March. Last week, in Djokovic’s match on the banks of the Danube in Belgrade, 4000 of his fans were present at the crowd.
Post the match, Djokovic, Dimitrov, and Thiem were seen partying at the night. While both Djokovic and Dimitrov were tested positive, Thiem flew to France and has played another exhibition match at Nice. The tournament was heavily criticized for not following the safety guidelines. World No. 1 commented on the social distancing measures and argued that Serbia and other regions have successfully contained the virus. He said,
