“Head of bone” one day, “wildly self-centered” the next day.
Tennis continues to waver from embarrassment to embarrassment in the course of the fight against COVID-19, throwing its stars in a dim light and certainly planning plans to resume play at the US Open in late August in peril.
German Alexander Zverev, who played Novak Djokovic’s unfortunate Adria Tour in Belgrade and Croatia earlier this month, was seen celebrating in Europe.
In a video posted on Instagram by the German designer Philipp Plein, the world’s number seven can be seen dancing with friends in a crowded bar.
It came seven days after Zverev revealed that, unlike Djokovic and the other players Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki, he had tested negative for the coronavirus.
But he apologized after the footage of the players dancing close to each other in a nightclub had been broadcast around the world.
“I deeply apologize to anyone who potentially put you at risk by playing on this tour,” the 23-year-old said in a note. “I will continue to follow the self-insulating guidelines recommended by our doctors. As an added precaution, my team and I will continue with regular tests.”
The latest video was condemned by the tennis world.
“This is my concern for tennis trying to return to the mid-pandemic: not that precautions cannot be taken, but that too many tennis players are conditioned to be wildly self-centered and have no idea how to act for the best interest of a larger group, “said NY Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg.
“Philipp Plein has already cleared his Instastory frame which clearly showed Zverev’s party today. No matter how lazy, sloppy and selfish players are following the public health guidelines in the mid-pandemic, they can definitely start acting quickly for cover your ass. “
Zverev also registered to play in a tennis tournament in Berlin in July that will allow an audience of up to 1000 fans in the stands.
There will be two events in the German capital: one outdoors at the Steffi Graf stadium and one inside the city’s historic Tempelhof airport.
“When we host the tournament in mid-July, there will be a strict hygiene concept that we will coordinate with the Berlin Senate,” tournament director and German Fed Cup skipper German Barbara Rittner told Deutsche Welle.
“We will have around 1000 spectators at the Steffi Graf stadium and around 300 in the Tempelhof hangar.
“It will be important to carefully observe all regulations and test players in advance. This is one of the requirements for these events. We will treat the situation and regulations very respectfully.”
About 4000 spectators attended the Belgrade event of the Adria Tour, in which there were no social distances. The players were also photographed shirtless, dancing the night away in a club full of Belgrade.
Australian player Nick Kyrgios described the staging of the event as “stunned”.
But when asked if player behavior could threaten the US Open, tournament director Stacey Allaster said she had “a lot of confidence in these professional athletes.”
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