Novak Djokovic’s coach, the former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, has confirmed he has tested positive for coronavirus.
The Croatian, who won Wimbledon in 2001, had defended Djokovic over his organisation of the ill-fated Adria Tour. The event had to be cancelled after one of the players, Grigor Dimitrov, confirmed he had tested positive.
Ivanisevic supported Djokovic, who has also tested positive, telling the New York Times everyone criticising the 33-year-old was “smart now” but that the event had been given government approval.
Now he has tested positive too. “Unfortunately after two negative tests in the last 10 days, I have just found out I have tested positive for Covid-19,” the 48-year old wrote on Instagram. “I feel good and don’t have any symptoms.”
The event, which took place in front of crowds in Serbia and Croatia with little evidence of social distancing, was criticised by other top players. Nick Kyrgios called the decision to stage the event “boneheaded” while the British No 1, Dan Evans, described it as “a poor example to set”.
Djokovic said earlier this week: “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,” the world No 1 added. “We were wrong and it was too soon. I can’t express enough how sorry I am for this and every case of infection.”
The coronavirus outbreak has also forced this year’s Davis Cup Finals to be postponed until 2021. The event will now take place in Madrid at the end of November next year.
“This is a tough decision, but delivering an international team event on this scale while guaranteeing the health and safety of all involved ultimately poses too great a risk,” David Haggerty, president of the International Tennis Federation, said on the tournament’s official website.