Top-ranked Djokovic tests positive after exhibition tennis matches.
Top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic announced Tuesday he and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus after he played in a series of exhibition matches he organized in Serbia and Croatia with zero social distancing amid the pandemic.
Raising questions about the full-f ledged return of tennis, including the U.S. Open planned for August, Djokovic is the fourth player to come down with COVID-19 after participating in matches held in Belgrade and Zadar, Croatia.
The others were threetime Grand Slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki.
“We believed the tournament met all health protocols and the health of our region seemed in good condition to finally unite people for philanthropic reasons,” Djokovic said on social media Tuesday. “We were wrong and it was too soon.”
The rest of his Adria Tour, which was supposed to head to Bosnia next, was called off.
“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,” Djokovic said in a statement released earlier. “I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and that everyone will be fine.”
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U.S. national team players Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath and Christen Press have opted out of the National Women’s Soccer League tournament kicking off this weekend in Utah.
Heath and Press, who played with Rapinoe on the champion World Cup team last summer in France, cited concerns about the coronavirus.
“Although I want to be on the field with my teammates doing what I love, because of the uncertainty and risks created by COVID-19, I have chosen not to participate in the NWSL Challenge Cup,” Heath, who plays for the Portland Thorns, said in a statement released by the team.
Tiffany Hayes, a 2018 all-WNBA first-team selection, has become the second Atlanta Dream guard to announce plans to sit out the 2020 season. Hayes did not mention social protests or the coronavirus pandemic in her statement released by the team, but she said sitting out the season “is in my best interest with everything going on right now.”
Martha Firestone Ford has ended her six-season run as the Detroit Lions’ owner. She took over when her husband, William Clay Ford, died.
Sheila Ford Hamp is taking over as principal owner and chairman of the Lions, succeeding her 94-year-old mother.
The Ducks appointed Martin Madden their assistant general manager with responsibility for overseeing their professional and amateur scouting.
Madden, who has spent 12 seasons with the Ducks, previously was in charge of the organization’s amateur scouting. — Helene Elliott
Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom skated with the team in one of the few times he has hit the ice since he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
The University of Cincinnati is removing Marge Schott’s name from its baseball stadium and a library archive in light of her racist comments while owner of the Cincinnati Reds.