Novak Djokovic, the world No.1, tested positive on COVID-19 virus earlier today, along with his wife, Jelena.
The Serbian player revealed this news around noon GMT time, adding that both he and Jelena aren’t feeling any symptoms. The pair will self-isolate in the next few days, and stay so until they test negative.
The world No.1 participated in a series of tournaments he organized in native Serbia, and the countries surrounding it. Before Joker, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, and Viktor Troicki all tested positive for Coronavirus. Reportedly, it was Dimitrov who brought the virus among the players, but those stories haven’t been confirmed.
Adria Tour was organized after Serbia, and several other countries decided to lift the measures imposed during the pandemics, allowing spectators in the stands, and relaxing the rules of social distancing.
Apart from these players, several others, among Alexander Zverev, participated in these events, but so far, there isn’t any news about their health status.
Top-ranked tennis star Novak Djokovic tests positive for the coronavirus after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia. Djokovic is the fourth player to test positive for the virus after playing in those exhibitions. https://t.co/F52tSUFiX5
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 23, 2020
Adria Tour has been canceled after this news broke out, with all the events and matches being postponed indefinitely.
Djokovic, on the other side, stated that he feels sorry for everything that happened, adding that he didn’t have any bad intentions.
On the other side, the majority of columnists and some of the players immediately began criticizing the Serbian for allowing himself to organize the tournament in the current situation. They would all point to the fact that even though Serbia and other countries didn’t have any measures imposed, he should follow the international guidelines.
Just to inform you that the Serbian government allowed all sports events with spectators and without social distancing. Several of their soccer teams played matches in front of more than 20,000 spectators.
A couple of days ago, the virus started coming back to this country, and today, the special COVID-19 task force brought back some measures trying to control and prevent the new outbreak.
Djokovic is under heavy pressure from all over the world. Still, in this case, the real target should be the Serbian government who allowed all the sporting events to take place without any safety measures and guidelines. Several other players and legends expressed their support to the No.1, saying that they would’ve done the same if they were in Joker’s position.