It had to be a party. After weeks of necessary confinement but deemed liberticide, life would resume its course. And the circuit too. Impatient to resume the racket while awaiting the official reopening of the season in mid-August, the players responded in number to the exhibitions that came out of the ground. Forgetting a health context still uncertain around the world and the barrier gestures to be respected. And for the Adria Tour, organized in Serbia and Croatia, the party ended.
After the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (n ° 19 worldwide), the Croatian Borna Coric (33rd) and the Serb Viktor Troiki (184th), the world number one Novak Djokovic revealed, on Tuesday, having been tested positive for coronavirus during this “tournament exhibition of charity ”. "DjoCovid", as some people already quibble on social networks, wore both the player shorts and the organizer suit. The show, which was played in packed stadiums - but where few spectators wore the mask as authorized by the Serbian government - stopped.
On the sidelines of the matches, the players jiggled, shirtless, in a nightclub and did not hesitate to rub during frenzied basketball and football games ... The Serbian, whose wife Jelena was also tested positive, is excused, but the damage is done. And it looks deep.
After today's meeting of all members of the Organizing Committee of Adria Tour, it has been decided that the tournament could not be continued and, therefore, the matches in Banja Luka and Sarajevo will not be held.
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These irresponsible attitudes cause discomfort in the tennis world. A world at a standstill, like all other sports, since the arrival of the pandemic but which hopes to find the courts on August 14 in Washington for the men's circuit and eleven days earlier in Palermo for women.
Obviously the subject bothers and disturbs. Nobody wants to speak out - openly - about these behaviors and their consequences. Apart from the Australian Nick Kyrgios, very critical from the start on the conditions in which the Adria Tour took place, nobody dares to attack the icon Djokovic.
For the French Federation, which announced last week that it wanted to organize Roland Garros from September 27 to October 11, the subject is sensitive. "We have implemented a strict health protocol developed by a college of scientific and multidisciplinary experts to avoid the slightest risk," says Jean-François Vilotte, director general of the FFT. We do this in consultation with the State services. Care is taken to defend the interests of the entire tennis ecosystem as best as possible, such as ATP, WTA or the US Open (August 31-September 13). "
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For the federation, holding the Porte d'Auteuil tournament is vital financially. "For us, it is important that the tournament be organized if the evolution of the epidemic allows it," continues Vilotte. We give ourselves the means to achieve this. "
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, 2020In Biot near Nice, where the UTS tournament is taking place behind closed doors, its organizer Patrick Mouratoglou did not respond to our requests. Arriving in Nice from the Adria Tour, the Austrian Dominic Thiem tested negative on Monday. But his presence is embarrassing. Will his future opponents at UTS accept to face him? The tournament which “has followed a drastic health protocol” for weeks “is not in question” assures a member of the Mouratoglou organization.
"This is a delicate subject," confirms another FFT leader on condition of anonymity. Everyone must have a sense of responsibility for the benefit of all. What we saw on the Adria Tour is not normal. Basic health safety rules must be observed. The consequences are detrimental to all. The virus is still there, it's not just about tennis… ”
“We must set an example. How to explain to a kid in a club that he must respect barrier gestures and physical distance if his models do not, says another actor of the circuit. A high level athlete must be attentive, whatever the discipline, he has an exemplary role. Obviously, some have forgotten it. But few people are ready to say it verbally and openly to the Serbian player.
