'There may have been too much confidence, but Novak Djokovic...', says former Top 5

The news of the negative swab for Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena has arrived from Serbia. The World number 1 and his partner had tested positive for the coronavirus (remaining asymptomatic) on the return in recent days to Belgrade from Zadar, Croatia, where the second stage of the charity Adria Tour tournament organized by Djokovic himself had taken place. The tournament was stopped before the final after Bulgarian Dimitrov announced his positivity to the virus.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion was the fourth player to come down with the virus after participating in the matches in Belgrade and Zadar. The others were three-time Grand Slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, Coric and Viktor Troicki. Djokovic’s coach, Goran Ivanisevic, has also said he has the virus.

Tsonga on Novak Djokovic

“If Novak Djokovic was able to organise this tournament, it was because he had all the authorisations," Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said. "There may have been an excess of confidence but Djokovic is not the real culprit. He thought he was doing well," Tsonga added. Over the last few days, other players like Gilles Simon, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Garbine Muguruza and Filip Krajinovic have also publicly spoken in favor of Novak Djokovic. "There are a bunch of people who are very happy to weaken Djokovic because it takes up space. They will accuse Djokovic by saying that it is entirely his fault and that it will be better organised on their side. Because they don't want this thing to affect their tournament. It is not trivial, it does not happen by chance," Simon said. No social distancing measures were enforced during the Adria Tour matches that Djokovic organized in Croatia and Serbia, even though players travelled from all over the world to participate in the events. Off the court, videos surfaced in June of Djokovic and several European tennis stars, including Coric and Dimitrov, partying at a Serbian nightclub days before Dimitrov confirmed that he tested positive for the coronavirus. "We organized the tournament at the moment when the virus has weakened, believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met," Djokovic said at the time. "Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with. I am hoping things will ease with time so we can all resume lives the way they were."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NUAA6h