Petar Popovic: French Open unfairly kicked out Damir Dzumhur, we will seek justice

Coach Petar Popovic was absolutely disappointed and frustrated with the way the French Open organizers handled his situation and he believed what happened was absolutely unfair to Damir Dzumhur.

Dzumhur, a three-time ATP champion, was removed from the French Open qualifying after his coach Popovic reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Popovic tried to explain that he had antibodies and that it was a false positive test but the organizers declined to give him a second test and instead kicked him and Dzumhur out from the tournament.

"From the very beginning, I had the virus, I had it, we were tested in the USA almost every day, they took my blood there and found a large amount of antibodies. They told me that I was OK for two or three months, and that was a month ago. In Rome I was negative on every test, and in Paris on the first. I was on the verge (of being positive) on Saturday, the doctor told me that, and I told him I had antibodies," Popovic told Sport Klub.

"That doctor told me that there can be leftovers from the virus, he assured me that everything would be fine. Pascal Maria, who was in charge of that, said that it had already been sent to the French Government, that Damir and I would be expelled, but the doctor told him what my situation was. After three hours, it was decided to kick us out of the tournament, even though I gave them my entire medical record ..."

Popovic and Dzumhur to seek justice 

Dzumhur didn't hide his frustration after he was unfairly kicked out of the French Open as he told Bosnian media he will sue the French Open if he can't reach a settlement with the tournament.

Popovic also confirmed they will try to peacefully resolve the situation, if not, they will sue the French Open.

"Although we are from a small country, we want to show that we are not small and that they cannot treat us so inhumanely. We have been training for months, we have been preparing hard, Djokovic happened at the US Open in the first round, and now the opponent is even worse ... These are the most important tournaments, he was unfairly kicked out. Our lawyer got in touch with the leaders from Roland Garros and the Tennis Association of France - we will see if we will solve it peacefully or we will have to go to court," Popovic added.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/305Ea43