Richard Gasquet suggests governments should be blamed, not Novak Djokovic

French tennis star Richard Gasquet doubts tournaments would be cancelled after one positive coronavirus test. 

On Sunday, the final of the Adria Tour in Zadar was called off after Grigor Dimitrov announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Dimitrov played his opener in Zadar on Saturday afternoon, before he withdrew from the event after feeling unwell.

"I saw that, on a golf tournament in the United States, a player tested positive (Nick Watney) but that did not prevent the tournament from continuing. It will be the same in tennis. They are not going to stop a tournament because a guy is positive. At the US Open, I think it will be like this. In any case, other cases can be detected. So you have to be careful," Gasquet told L'Equipe.

World No. 50 Gasquet wasn't particularly surprised as he says this is our new reality.

"Not really. I am not traumatized. You just have to get used to it. We've been living with this for three months. You just don't want to screw up on the right, on the left," Gasquet said. What I saw on the pictures of the Adria Tour is that they did not take a lot of precautions. But you have to expect that. I am not saying that I do not imagine that there will be other cases. I say that is certainly what will happen. It will happen. What is needed is that this does not happen to you!"

Richard Gasquet defends Novak Djokovic 

Djokovic -- the man behind the Adria Tour project -- has received a lot of criticism after Dimitrov and Borna Coric tested positive at the Adria Tour.

The crowds was packed in Belgrade and Zadar, while players shook hands and hugged. 

The Adria Tour event organizers claimed they didn't breach any of the safety measures issued by the governments in Serbia and Croatia.

"No. Djokovic is not the culprit. He didn't put a gun on the guys' heads and demand there to be 5,000 spectators. It was the government that chose to accommodate these 5,000 people in one place. But it is sure that all these people, it was delusional ... It was the only place in the world where we saw an audience like that," Gasquet added. 

Meanwhile, Richard Gasquet is playing the Ultimate Tennis Showdown -- which takes place over the weekends at the Mouratoglou Academy.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Nr6Cqh