Djokovic Tour: the coronavirus goes through the holes of the racket

Was the party too good? Four players including Novak Djokovic himself joined by the world number 1 for a bacchanal around tennis in the Balkans were tested positive for coronavirus, which gives rise to fears of a domino effect before the resumption of the ATP circuit and in particular the US Open. The other three are the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (19^e the world), the Croatian Borna Coric (33^e) and the Serbian Viktor Troicki (184^e).

Dimitrov, 19th in the world, was flat for his match against Coric on Sunday in Zadar. The dreaded explanation fell the same evening by a tweet from the Bulgarian who had hurriedly left his colleagues in Croatia: “I tested positive for Covid-19 when I returned to Monaco.” Unlike the outpourings that had marked the Adria Tour so far, Dimitrov had simply “checked” Coric at the end of their match. His tweet caused the cancellation of the Zadar final between Djokovic and the Russian Andrey Rublev (14^e). Monday morning, Coric announced in turn to be positive, also on Twitter “Hello everyone, I wanted to tell you that I tested positive for Covid-19. I want to be sure that anyone who has been in contact with me for the past few days will be tested! I am really sorry for the harm I have done! ”Writes Coric (33rd). Serbian player Viktor Troicki (184th) also tested positive, we learned in the evening of Monday. He notably played a match with Djokovic last week in Belgrade. At the same time, Djokovic’s physical trainer Marko Paniki and Dimitrov’s coach Kristijan Groh were also tested positive, according to local press, which said that the world number 1 quickly left Zadar for Belgrade where he was tested on Monday morning.

Celebration

The Serbian capital, whose Red Star football club announced on Monday that five of its players had tested positive for coronavirus, hosted the first stop on the Adria Tour in mid-June. And the images that have been broadcast have something to thrill the advocates of physical distancing. A packed stadium, almost not a protective mask, players who hug each other on the court, have dinner together without any precautions, go wild shirtless in a box (were notably noticed in this exercise Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Dimitrov ), play basketball without any contact restrictions …

None of this was in contradiction with the directives of the regional health authorities. Djokovic had also responded to criticism of the lack of distancing observed by highlighting the “rather decent” record of the Balkan countries in their fight against the coronavirus. No problem, then. But that was before … Before Dimitrov and Coric admitted that they had been infected.

Djokovic said to himself “Extremely sorry for each individual case of contamination”. “I hope the number of those infected will not increase”. He justified the organization of this charity tour: “Everything we have done for a month has been done with a pure heart and with sincere intentions,” continued the Serb, adding that the tournament was organized “with the idea of ​​helping the tennis players of the region, to create conditions for them to play, so that they can make an income in order to more easily overcome this difficult period ”.

“Foolish decision to exhibit (…), this is what happens when one does not respect the protocols. This is not a joke”, tweeted Australian Nick Kyrgios. “How can I explain to my young people that they have to respect distances when Djokovic organizes farandoles on the court?” It is a catastrophic image! vexed the vice-president of the German Federation Dirk Hordoff. It’s not just players, there were a hundred young people in contact with them. There are no health rules and we proudly show it all on video, my arms are falling out. ”

Fears

Because now, we fear a catastrophic domino effect for tennis since they also participated in the Adria Tour Dominic Thiem (3^e) et Alexander Zverev (7^e). The latter was tested negative, as was Marin Cilic (37^e) and Rublev who announced that he would put himself on his own fortnight. On the other hand, Thiem had left the Balkans a few days earlier to join the south of France to participate in the competition of Patrick Mouratoglou, the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) where Stefanos Tsitsipas (6^e), Matteo Berrettini (8^e) and David Goffin (10^e). The UTS organization announced on Friday, photo supporting, that Thiem had been tested upon arrival. “All players have been tested on arrival before participating in UTS”, wanted to highlight the great organizer of this sporting masquerade. Still, the Balkan cluster could be expensive for the ATP circuit and the US Open which will take place without qualifications (August 31-September 13) but for which several big names have reported reluctance (including Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Simona Halep ) regarding health conditions and restrictions.

AFP