Novak Djokovic decries ‘witch hunt’ over his tennis tournament

Novak Djokovic said he’s being unfairly targeted for organizing an unsanctioned tennis tournament last month in Europe, one in which he, his wife, his fitness coach, three other players and another player’s trainer later tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“I can only see criticism lately and much of it is malicious,” Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 men’s player, told Serbian newspaper Sportski Zurnal.“It’s like an agenda and a witch hunt are on.”

Safety protocols weren’t followed at the tournament. Players answered questions in close quarters at a news conference, with no masks. Players shook hands and draped arms over one another after matches, and they were spotted partying shirtless at nightclubs.

Djokovic seems to think his fame is the reason he’s been the subject of criticism.“Someone has to take the fall, a big name, to be the main culprit,”he said.“I leave it to others to say if that is fair. I don’t think it is.”

World No. 3 Dominic Thiem, one of the others to test positive, defended Djokovic. “He didn’t commit a crime,” Thiem said. “I don’t understand all the criticism.”

Fellow player Nick Kyrgios, who was not at the event, has kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism about the tournament and players who attended. Thiem fired back at him, saying the Australian “did a lot of mistakes himself. It would be better for him to come clean instead of criticizing others.”

Kyrgios also criticized world No. 7 Alexander Zverev, who did not test positive at Djokovic’s tournament but pledged to selfisolate for 14 days afterward, a promise he broke when he was spotted dancing at a club.