ATP World Number 1 Novak Djokovic has tendered an unreserved apology on how his tournament caused a participants to be infected by the coronavirus.
Djokovic became the latest tennis star to test positive to the coronavirus after playing at the Djokovic’s Adria Tour competition he hosted in Belgrade.
Following the suspension of all ATP tournament due to COVID-19, the Serb who has been vocal against vaccination organized the tournament to help upcoming tennis players to gain more access to competitive tennis tours.
The 33-year old tested positive with his wife also as Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all revealed they had coronavirus after plying in the competition.
Due to the incident, the remaining Adria Tour events in Banja Luka and Sarajevo been cancelled according to Djokovic’s brother Djordje, who is a director of the tournament, has confirmed.
An extremely sorry Djokovic in a statement apologized for what his competition had caused and said it was sons out of the pure heart.
He further revealed in the statement that the competition was to help upcoming tennis stars get access to competitive games.
The statement read thus;
The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive, just as Jelena’s, while the results of our children are negative.
Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions. Our tournament was meant to unite and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region.
The Tour has been designed to help both established and up and coming tennis players from south-eastern Europe to gain access to some competitive tennis while the various tours are on hold due to Covid-19.
It was born with a philanthropic idea, to direct all raised funds towards people in need and it warmed my heart to see how everybody strongly responded.
We organised the tournament when the virus had weakened, believing the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met.
Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality we are learning to cope and live with. I am hoping things will ease with time so we can all resume lives the way they were.
I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and everyone will be fine.
I will remain in self-isolation for the next 14 days, and repeat the test in five days.
SEE DJOKOVIC TWEET ON HIS COVID-19 TEST
