June 25 (India Today) – Novak Djokovic’s father has come to the defence of his son and instead turned the blame on Grigor Dimitrov for spreading coronavirus in the tennis tournament organised by his son.
Grigor Dimitrov was the first person who tested positive for Covid-19 at the Adria Tour charity event after which three other players – Borna Coris, Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic – also contracted the virus.
Djokovic’s wife Jelena, fitness trainer Marco Panichi and Dimitrov’s coach also tested positive for Covid-19.
Djokovic’s Adria Tour attracted a capacity crowd in the Serbian capital, where players interacted, embraced and partied as they did in pre-COVID-19 days. Djokovic also organised nights out in Belgrade and pictures and videos of him dancing with the players made it to social media.
But his father Srdjan believes Dimitrov was the reason behind the spread of the virus and not the lack of protocols and health guidelines followed by the tournament organisers and Djokovic.
“Why did it happen? Because that man probably came sick, who knows from where,” Srdjan Djokovic told RTL Croatia TV.
“He didn’t test here, he tested somewhere else I think that’s not fair. Nobody is feeling well because of this situation. He inflicted damage to both Croatia and to us as a family in Serbia,” Srdjan Djokovic said.
Novak Djokovic on the other hand, has already apologised twice for the coronavirus cases in the tournament, which had to be called off after he tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
“I am so deeply sorry our tournament has caused harm. Everything the organisers and I did the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions.
“We believed the tournament met all health protocols and the health of our region seemed in good condition to finally unite people for philanthropic reasons.
“We were wrong and it was too soon. I Can’t express enough how sorry I am for this and every case of infection,” Djokovic said in a statement he issued on social media.
