Djokovic positive, pundits negative

WORLD No.1 Novak Djokovic has been pilloried for testing positive to COVID-19, days after hosting players in the Adria Tour exhibition tournament in the Balkan region.

Djokovic was criticised for staging the tournament amid a pandemic after Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki also returned positive tests following the tournament in Serbia and Croatia.

The tennis world has shown little sympathy for Djokovic, with Australian two-times grand slam quarter-finalist Nick Kyrgios writing on Twitter: “Prayers up to all the players that have contracted COVID-19. Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ — this takes the cake.”

Martina Navratilova, a 59times grand slam champion, wrote: “Yikes this is not good and it’s a pattern. Hope Novak will be ok of course! What now, US Open? Roland Garros? We have a lot of work to do.”

Patrick McEnroe, former doubles champion and commentator said: “When I sent out a tweet a couple weeks ago about that event in Serbia I said yeah it looks like a normal tennis event to me. I’m not sure everyone got my point,” he said in a video on Twitter.

“Maybe they are starting to get it now. Nothing’s foolproof so don’t be foolish.”

ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi: “Obviously we feel sorry for the players. We want them to recover as soon as possible,” he told the New York Times yesterday.

“I know there has been a lot of criticism but on the other hand we at the ATP, the USTA and everybody, we have to be careful because we also have to be conscious that even with extreme measures you could actually end up having some players testing positive.

“You don’t need players and people hugging each other for someone to test positive. So we’re all running the risk.”