Novak Djokovic Under Fire Following Positive COVID-19 Tests Of Players During His Tournament

While playing in the Adria Tour tournament in Croatia hosted by Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, who is ranked nineteenth in the world, and Borna Coric, who is ranked thirty-third in the world, both tested positive for COVID-19. This led to the tournament being canceled. Now, Djokovic is under fire by critics.

After it came out that both Dimitrov and Coric tested positive for the virus, numerous people expressed their criticism for the tournament proceeding. The critics include Australian tennis star Nick Kyrios who on Twitter said, “Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the ‘exhibition’. Speedy recovery fellas, but that’s what happens when you disregard all protocols. This IS NOT A JOKE.”

The event was canceled prior to the championship match between Djokovic and Andrey Rublev, which was also part of an expedition series that was raising money for charity in the absence of ATP Tour. 

Dimitrov took to social media on Sunday, in which he acknowledged his positive test. “I want to reach out and let my fans and friends know that I tested positive back in Monaco for Covid-19,” he said. “I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested and takes the necessary precautions. I am so sorry for any harm I might have caused. I am back home now and recovering. Thanks for your support and please stay safe and healthy.”

Djokovic, who has since also tested positive for COVID-19, spoke on Dimitrov and Coric’s positive tests while speaking with Eurosports Tennis Legends Vodcast. “I  know there has been some criticism as well coming especially maybe from the West of: ‘Why do we have the crowd?’ We don’t have the social distance, what is going on, why are they having this kind of event in the midst of a really hard pandemic in the West? But, you know, it’s hard to explain to people that the situation is really, really different maybe in America or the UK than it is in Serbia or maybe its surrounding countries. And obviously from day one of the organization of the Adria Tour, we’ve been following the rules and the measures that have been regulated by government institutions and health public institutions. So we’ve never crossed those lines, we’ve always waited for them to give us a green light whether we can have the crowd, and then we ask them how much we can have or whether there is an obligation for social distancing or not. We’ve been through all these processes and the result of it all was amazing.”

The ATP Tour is not expected to return until the middle of August at the earliest, but that can certainly change.