PARIS (AFP) – Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki have all tested positive for coronavirus after taking part in an exhibition tennis tournament in the Balkans featuring world number one Novak Djokovic, raising questions over the sport’s planned return in August.
Croatia’s Coric, ranked 33rd in the world, revealed Monday he had tested positive for COVID-19, with Troicki confirmed to have contracted the virus several hours later.
It follows Sunday’s announcement by Dimitrov that he had also tested positive after pulling out of the exhibition event in Croatia, one of the biggest since the tennis season was halted because of the pandemic.
Coric tweeted: ”I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during the last few days gets tested!
”I am really sorry for any harm I might have caused! I’m feeling well and don’t have any simptoms (sic). Please stay safe and healthy!”
One of Djokovic’s coaches and another member of Dimitrov’s entourage have also reportedly tested positive for the virus, according to Croatia’s N1 television channel. Troicki, meanwhile, played Djokovic last week in Belgrade.
Coric had beaten Bulgaria’s Dimitrov in the second leg of the Adria Tour in Zadar on Croatia’s Adriatic coast on Saturday.
Dimitrov withdrew from the Balkans tournament following that match, complaining of feeling unwell.
Sunday’s final between Djokovic, who is president of the ATP Player Council, and Russia’s Andrey Rublev was immediately cancelled as a precaution.
Australian star Nick Kyrgios pulled no punches in his reaction to Coric’s tweet.
‘NOT A JOKE’
”Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the ‘exhibition’,” Kyrgios wrote on social media.
”Speedy recovery fellas, but that’s what happens when you disregard all protocols. This IS NOT A JOKE.”
Britain’s Andy Murray called it ”a lesson for all of us”.
”Once you start having mass gatherings with people coming in from all sorts of countries, it’s a recipe for it to kick off,” Murray said.
Also playing in the tournament were world number three Dominic Thiem, former US Open winner Marin Cilic, seventh-ranked Alexander Zverev and Filip Krajinovic.
Both Zverev and Cilic later took to Twitter to say they their tests had returned negative for the virus which has killed over 465,000 people.
