Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena have tested positive for coronavirus after the world No 1 competed on the Adria Tour over the past two weekends. The tournament, which took place in Belgrade, Serbia and Zadar, Croatia, was plunged into chaos on Sunday when the final was cancelled after it was announced Grigor Dimitrov had contracted the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Djokovic has now announced he and his wife Jelena have caught coronavirus having been tested upon their return to Serbia. Their son Stefan and daughter Tara have not contracted the virus.
A statement from Djokovic said: “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 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 the COVID-19 situation.
“It was all 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 to this.
“We organised the tournament at the moment when the virus has weakened, believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met.
“Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still 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 that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and that everyone will be fine. I will remain in self-isolation for the next 14 days, and repeat the test in five days.”
Djokovic received plenty of criticism for staging the Adria Tour despite the number of coronavirus cases in Serbia and Croatia remaining relatively low.
The 33-year-old has now become the fourth player involved in the tournament to contract COVID-19 after Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki.
Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic, who both competed in the Adria Tour, announced on Monday that they had tested negative for coronavirus but would be taking precuations in the coming two weeks.