Many tennis players have been contaminated on the sidelines of the charity event Adria organized Tour in the Balkans, including its organizer, Novak Djokovic. In effect, it announced on Tuesday, June 23, have been tested positive for the coronavirus, even if it does not " feel any symptoms ", as you can read in a press release issued by his staff. "Upon arrival to Belgrade (from Zadar, Croatia, which takes place Saturday and Sunday, the second stage of the tournament), we went for tests. Mine and that of Jelena (his wife, ED) are positive. Those children are negative, " said Djokovic in the press release.

Three other players who participated in the Adria Round, which started in mid-June in Belgrade, have already announced their test positive to the Covid-19 : the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (19th world), the Croatian Borna Coric (33rd) and the Serbian Viktor Troicki (184th). "Nola" is said to be " extremely sorry for every single case of contamination." "I hope that the number of contaminated will not increase ", he added.

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"Everything we've done for the past month, we've done it with a pure heart and sincere intentions," said the Serb, adding that the tournament was organised " with the idea to help tennis players of the region, to create conditions for them to play, for that they have income in order to overcome more easily the difficult period ". The images released of the first stage of the Adria Tower in Belgrade showed the stadium closes, hardly a protective mask, male and female players, giving accolades on the court or dining together, without any precaution.

This was not in contradiction with the directives of the regional health authorities. Furthermore, Serbia has organized parliamentary elections on Sunday. "We held the tournament at the time the virus are fading, believing that the conditions were present for the meeting," said Djokovic in a press release, adding that the idea was to send " messages of solidarity, respect, fair play ". He stated that he had placed himself in isolation for 14 days and that it referred to a test in five days.