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‘I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and that everyone will be fine.’
World’s number one in men’s tennis player, Novak Djokovic, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organised in Serbia and Croatia.
The top-ranked is the fourth player from the Adria Tour – a tennis exhibiton that took place in Serbia and Croatia over the past two weeks to test positive for the virus after Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all tested positive. Djokovic, was not tested in Croatia on Sunday, instead travelling back to Serbia. Upon arrival there it was confirmed he had tested positive for coronavirus, although he is not displaying symptoms. His wife, Jelena, has also tested positive and they will go into self-isolation for 14 days.
‘The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested,’ Djokovic said in a statement. ‘My result is positive just as is Jelena’s, while our children’s are negative.
‘Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions. Our tournaments meant to united and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region. ‘We organized the tournament at the moment when the virus has weakened, believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met. ‘Unfortunately, the virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with.
‘I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and that everyone will be fine.’ The remainder of the Adria Tour has now been cancelled. Adria Tour director and Djokovic’s father Djordje, said:
‘We are extremely sorry that we have to stop organizing the upcoming tennis tournaments in Banja Luka and Sarajevo. We were looking forward to promoting sports and providing financial support to local players, as well as to the audience finally seeing Novak Djokovic and other tennis players live, after many years of waiting. ‘Unfortunately, due to all the events that happened in the last few days, we have decided that the most important thing right now is to stabilize the epidemiological situation, as well as for everyone to recover. The Zadar-based final between Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Djokovic was abandoned after Dimitrov tested positive, with the Bulgarian world No. 19 revealing the news on Instagram. It was no surprise when others including Coric, Troicki and members of Djokovic and Dimitrov’s teams – confirmed they had also contracted the virus given the total abandonment of any social distancing during the event.
