Three more people involved in Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour exhibition tennis series were infected by the coronavirus, Croatian officials said on Monday, a day after Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov said that he had tested positive.
The head of the Zadar district crisis headquarters Sime Vickovic told state TV HRT that three of the 19 people initially tested were positive. He revealed no names, but Croatian player Borna Coric himself confirmed that he was among them, said dpa.
"Hi everyone, I wanted to inform you that I tested positive for Covid-19," Coric said on Instagram. "I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during the last few days gets tested!"
He said that he was displaying no symptoms and apologized "for any harm" he may have caused.
Belgrade media reported that Djokovic's and Dimitrov's coaches, Italian Marko Paniki and German Christian Groh were also infected.
German player Alexander Zverev said on social media he and his team had tested negative. "I deeply apologize to anyone I have potentially put at risk by playing this tour," he added.
Djokovic came under fire for organizing the tournament with few health precautions and publicly partying after the Belgrade round even as the tennis world remains in lockdown. He immediately tested for the coronavirus, state broadcaster RTS reported, quoting the Serb's PR team.
His family and the entire entourage were with him and were also tested, the report said without providing other details.
"Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the ‘exhibition’ speedy recovery fellas, but that’s what happens when you disregard all protocols," tweeted Australian player Nick Kyrgios. "This IS NOT A JOKE."
Others, including Croatia's Marin Cilic and Germany's Alexander Zverev, showed up at the local clinic for testing, the daily 24Sata reported online.
Even Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic went in for testing, as he met with the players in Zadar.
"On Saturday he talked to Djokovic, (former pro and Djokovic's coach Croat Goran) Ivanisevic and Cilic," daily 24Sata quoted a government spokesperson as saying. "The meeting lasted 2-3 minutes, without handshakes and close contact."
The newspaper also quoted an unnamed source from the Zadar epidemic management headquarters as saying that the tournament was organized with "catastrophic" violations of health protocols.
The Serbian world number one player had also frequently been criticized over publicizing his position against vaccination and his promotion of pseudo-medicine.
The final of the tournament in Zadar, played a week after the inaugural leg in Belgrade, was cancelled before its scheduled conclusion on Sunday after Dimitrov announced he was infected. The finalists were Djokovic and Russian Andrei Rublev.
Both the ATP and WTA men's and women's tennis tours are currently suspended until the end of July with revised schedules starting from August.
The US Open said it will go ahead in New York from August 31, under a strict hygiene protocol, despite the concerns of some players - including Djokovic - that restrictions did not make the tournament viable.
The clay-court grand slam, the French Open in Paris, remains scheduled from September 27.
On Monday organizers of a competition in Kitzbuehel, Austria, said "from our side there is nothing against" Dimitrov and Coric playing if they tested negative for the coronavirus after 14 days of self-isolation. Local player Dominic Thiem is involved in hosting the event.
