Djokovic positive for Covid-19, questions over return of tennis

BELGRADE: World number one Novak Djokovic’s hopes of hosting a successful exhibition tournament during a pandemic spectacularly backfired Tuesday when he became the fourth player to test positive for coronavirus, raising serious questions about the sport’s planned return in August.

Djokovic, who was not showing any symptoms, joined fellow players Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki in testing positive for COVID-19 during the second leg of his Adria Tournament where social distancing was minimal.

Djokovic said his wife Jelena also tested positive while the results of their children were negative.

“I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection,” said the 33-year-old Serb, who has said he would be against a compulsory coronavirus vaccination if it became a requirement for tennis players to travel to tournaments.

“I hope that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and that everyone will be fine,” the 17-time Grand Slam winner said, adding that he would now go into self-isolation for the next 14 days.