From the Australian National Broadcaster (ABC) 18 months ago.
Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour turned into a coronavirus mess, and the tennis world has been scathingNovak Djokovic's ill-fated charity tennis tournament has led to the world number one and a number of other pros testing positive for coronavirus.
Djokovic said he had "sincere intentions" when launching the Adria Tour tournament, and has acknowledged the event came too soon, but that hasn't stopped the widespread condemnation from his rivals and colleagues.
Here's how it's all gone down.
What was the Adria Tour tournament?The Adria Tour 2020 was a tournament created by Djokovic, to be held in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina between June 12 and July 5.
Announced in May, Djokovic was joined by international stars like Aleksander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic for the event.
Fans attended the events, and tickets sold quickly. The first weekend, in Serbia, was played in full, but the second weekend in Croatia ran into a few hitches.
What went wrong?A bunch of players got coronavirus.
Dimitrov was the first to test positive, followed by Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki. The final of the event was cancelled after Dimitrov's diagnosis.
Then Djokovic confirmed he had tested positive, as had his wife. Troicki's pregnant wife also contracted the virus.
How did the virus spread?During the tournament, Djokovic received criticism for the lack of social distancing by players throughout the event. Players were seen hugging and huddling together for photos, and were filmed playing basketball together on off days.
Videos also emerged of parties in which players joined each other on stage, dancing together with their shirts off in front of crowds of people.
Players and staff did not wear masks throughout the event.
What has the response been?Tennis players and officials from around the world have been nearly universal in their criticism of Djokovic and the event.
"Obviously it's not surprising how many players have tested positive when you see the scenes and the images and the videos from the tournament and the players party with no social distancing in place." —
Andy Murray"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." —
Nick Kyrgios"Yikes this is not good and it's a pattern. Hope Novak will be ok of course! What now, US Open? Roland Garros? We have a lot of work to do." —
Martina Navratilova"I don't think he should be having a players' party and dancing all over each other. Players have tested positive. He should feel some responsibility in his event and how it's transpired, really." -
British number one Dan EvansBut some ATP and Croatian officials offered Djokovic some support.
"I know there has been a lot of criticism, but on the other hand … we have to be careful because we also have to be conscious that even with extreme measures, you could actually end up having some players testing positive. You don't need players and people hugging each other for someone to test positive." —
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi"Some minor mistakes may have been made, but the idea [for the tournament] was a good one." —
Croatian Tennis president Nikolina BabicWhat has Djokovic said?Djokovic released a statement on the Adria Tour website in which he confirmed his positive test and apologised to those who also contracted the virus, before releasing a further statement on Twitter admitting his wrongdoing.
"We believed the tournament met all health protocols and the health of our region seemed in good conditions to finally unite people for philanthropic reasons," he said.
"We were wrong and it was too soon. I can't express enough how sorry I am for this and every case of infection."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-24/novak-djokovic-charity-tennis-tournament-became-coronavirus-mess/12387086