How it took a grand slam from coronavirus for Djokovic to leave the court

Tennis champion Novak Djokovic’s Adria Tour in the Balkans was a horror show, but he’s not the only one to blame.

File photo of Novak Djokovic | Twitter

Novak Djokovic is known to beat all odds on the tennis court. Just last year’s Wimbledon final was proof of the world number 1’s resilience, when he snagged the trophy from under Swiss legend Roger Federer’s nose after saving two championship points.

Perhaps this is the reason why Nole, as he is fondly referred to by family and fans, thought he could defeat the odds of the highly contagious coronavirus from spreading during the Adria Tour — the controversial exhibition matches he organised in the Balkans this month.

Don’t show sympathy for the anti-vaxxer, who has now tested positive for Covid-19. He made the decision to host and partake in the tournament deliberately. His actions were unjustifiable, uninformed and uncalled for. Not only did he organise a charity exhibition series when international tennis remains suspended in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, he and other players downright mocked the fight against coronavirus with their irresponsible actions.

Unfortunately, this could be expected of Novak Djokovic. He is among those daredevils who don’t understand the strength of this virus until it gets to them, and leaves hundreds at risk. Even his wife, Jelena Djokovic, has now tested positive for Covid-19.

Djokovic referred to the regulations proposed for the upcoming US Open, scheduled to start from 31 August, as “extreme” and “impossible”. The Serb, with 17 grand slam titles under his belt, has apologised and said that he is “deeply sorry” for hosting the Adria Tour. Too bad he doesn’t have a time machine to reverse the damage that has been done.

But it would be wrong to put only Djokovic on the spot. His fellow tennis players Alexander Zverev, Dominic Theim, Marin Cilic, Gregor Dimitrov should all be called out for their irresponsible decision to participate in the tournament.

Their decision was, as Australian Tennis star Nick Kyrigos aptly put it, ‘bone-headed’.

Audience and participants complicit too

The dangers of this contagion are evident to any reasonable person, but it seemed to be all forgotten at the Adria Tour.
Huge crowds gathered to watch the matches and most didn’t care to bring a mask along. Djokovic defended the presence of big crowds in the stadiums at the beginning of the tournament.

Forget handshakes, players openly hugged in the middle of the court, while ball boys brought them towels to wipe their sweat away. Off the court, Djokovic could be seen partying shirtless at a night-club in Belgrade after the matches.

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. https://t.co/lVligELgID

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 23, 2020

Serbia’s coronavirus cases are low, but the country is far from completely eradicating it. In the last 24 hours, 102 new cases and one death were reported in Djokovic’s home country. How is any of this tolerable?

The Serbian tennis player has said his intentions weren’t wrong, but they were definitely misplaced.

Don’t get angry the next time Kyrigos delivers a dead service. Instead, channel your outrage towards the organisers of this tournament, who have put many at risk, setting a bad precedent for the remaining 2020 tennis season.

Retrospective criticism

The Adria Tour, and Djokovic, drew the ire of critics when it was already little too late. Three players including Grigor Dimitrov, world no. 14, had already contracted Covid-19 by then.

If the international tennis community had come together to condemn these exhibition matches before, this blunder could have been prevented.

Bruno Soares, member of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) player council, of which Djokovic is the president, can now conveniently call the Adria Tour a “horror show”.

But the ATP shrugged off any responsibility for these matches, since they don’t fall under their jurisdiction. Although the ATP didn’t sanction the tournament, they didn’t issue caution against it either. Hence, they should not sit on their high horses, now that things have gone awry.

ATP and the World Tennis Association (WTA) tours, that are set to resume in August, will take place in empty courts. Learning that the Adria Tour was not adhering to such preventive measures, some kind of statement or reprimand could have been issued.

An environment of denial

Covid-19 has crushed the hyper egos of high-profile players, especially those who have mocked and made light of the seriousness of the virus.

Before it got to the boys of the Adria Tour, coronavirus showed NBA player Rudy Gobert who’s the boss after he disrespected its might by touching various mics and recording devices. Rudy was diagnosed with Covid shortly after that little joke.

This is the video of Rudy Gobert touching all the microphones and potentially infecting innocent people with Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/hqae652PLX

— Abdul Memon (@abdulamemon) March 12, 2020

Thankfully, there has been no demand for sports to be organised in India, as of now. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was cancelled without much friction. Even after restrictions were eased on closed-door matches, the BCCI chose to remain cautious.

Many countries, including France and Germany, are easing restrictions on spectators gathering in stadiums starting July. Hopefully the blunder of the Adria Tour helps good sense prevail and there are stricter hygiene and distancing rules when these events are organised. Otherwise, sports might soon supersede religion when it comes to fanaticism, and become the next superspreader of coronavirus after religious congregations.

Views are personal.