Adria Tour

The Adria Tour was an exhibition tennis tour held in June 2020 in Belgrade, Serbia and Zadar, Croatia. It was organized by the world No. 1 ranked player Novak Djokovic during the ATP Tour's shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adria Tour
Tournament information
LocationBelgrade, Serbia
Zadar, Croatia
SurfaceClay / outdoor

The event fell under heavy criticism due to its lack of social distancing procedures, and allowing a full crowd, unlike the simultaneous Ultimate Tennis Showdown. A planned Montenegrin leg was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.[1] During the Croatian leg, Grigor Dimitrov, one of the marquee players, announced that he had tested positive for the virus, leading to the event being abandoned.[2] Borna Ćorić, Dimitrov's last opponent, tested positive the next day.[3] Viktor Troicki and Djokovic himself tested positive over the next two days.[4][5]

Tournament

After the ATP announced on 12 March that all tennis events would be suspended for at least six weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Novak Djokovic proposed an exhibition tournament in his home region of the Balkans from 13 June to 5 July.[6] The schedule and locations proposed were:

  • Belgrade, Serbia — 13–14 June
  • Zadar, Croatia — 20–21 June
  • Montenegro — 27–28 June
  • Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina — 3–4 July
  • Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina — 5 July

Unusually for events during the pandemic, fans were allowed to attend, but organizers said that a one-meter distance between each spectator would be enforced.[7] This was not the case during the Serbian leg, however, which was tightly packed.[8]

Format

The matches proposed were a shorter version of tennis called Fast4 Tennis where the first player to win 4 games wins the set, with 2 sets winning the match. Each stop on the tour followed a round-robin system between players in two pools, with the pool winners playing in a final.

Participants

The following is a list of players for the tournament:[9]

Player Rank
Serbia Novak Djokovic 1
Austria Dominic Thiem 3
Germany Alexander Zverev 7
Russia Andrey Rublev 14
Bulgaria Grigor Dimitrov 19
Serbia Dušan Lajović 23
Serbia Filip Krajinović 32
Croatia Borna Ćorić 33
Croatia Marin Čilić 37
Bosnia and Herzegovina Damir Džumhur 107
Serbia Danilo Petrović 157
Serbia Viktor Troicki 184
Serbia Peđa Krstin 246
Croatia Nino Serdarušić 299
  • Singles rankings as of 16 March 2020 (rankings are frozen until the resumption of the season in August 2020)

The singles competitors secured for the event were top players, compared to other unofficial tournaments around the same time.[10]

Finals

In the Belgrade tournament, Dominic Thiem defeated surprise finalist Filip Krajinović in three sets in the first leg. The cancelled final of the second leg was to be between Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev.

Location Champion Runner-up Score
Serbia Belgrade Austria Dominic Thiem Serbia Filip Krajinović 4–3(7–2), 2–4, 4–2
Croatia Zadar Serbia Novak Djokovic vs. Russia Andrey Rublev Final cancelled[11]
Montenegro not determined Tournament abandoned[12]
Bosnia and Herzegovina Banja Luka Tournament abandoned[13]
Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo Tournament abandoned[13]

Aftermath

It was revealed on 21 June that Grigor Dimitrov tested positive for COVID-19 after participating in the Zadar event and then returning to his home in Monaco.[14] The announcement by Dimitrov on Instagram took place shortly before the final was to be played in Zadar, with the crowd awaiting the players to enter the court. After Dimitrov's announcement, the final was cancelled.[11]

Social media posts and photographs of the players showed them hugging, shaking hands, playing basketball, and dancing together during the event, as well as during the previous event a week and a half earlier in Belgrade.[15]

Borna Ćorić, who played against Dimitrov at the Zadar event and was seen to hug Dimitrov before the game, also revealed on 22 June that he tested positive for COVID-19.[16] Viktor Troicki and his pregnant wife Aleksandra announced they had tested positive hours later.[5]

On 23 June, Djokovic announced that both he and his wife Jelena had also tested positive for COVID-19.[17]

On 26 June, Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanišević confirmed that he had tested positive for the virus as well.[18]

See also

References
  1. Sharma, Aryan (June 21, 2020). ""It's Hard To Explain To People" - Novak Djokovic Defends Decision To Have Crowds At The Adria Tour".
  2. "Grigor Dimitrov tests positive for coronavirus after feeling unwell at Adria Tour". Eurosport. June 21, 2020.
  3. "Borna Coric also tests positive for coronavirus after Grigor Dimitrov case". Eurosport. June 22, 2020.
  4. "Djokovic has tested positive for coronavirus". ESPN.com. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  5. "Viktor Troicki becomes fifth Adria Tour participant to test positive for coronavirus - report". Eurosport. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  6. "Novak Djokovic twitter post". Twitter. May 22, 2020.
  7. "Exhibition events fill void during tennis shutdown - but will any stick around when normality returns?". The National. June 9, 2020.
  8. Stojanović, Dušan (2020-06-12). "Djokovic defends packing the stands at tennis charity tour event in Serbia". Press Herald. Archived from the original on 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  9. "UČESNICI TURNIRA". theadriatour.com. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  10. "Zverev joins Djokovic, Thiem, Dimitrov in playing the Adria Tour". Tennis Tonic. May 26, 2020.
  11. "Adria Tour final cancelled". Adria Tour. 21 June 2020.
  12. "Adria Tour event in Montenegro cancelled". Adria Tour. 13 June 2020. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  13. "The Organizing Committee of the Adria Tour made a decision on the cancellation of further events". Adria Tour. 23 June 2020. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  14. "Grigor Dimitrov 'so sorry' after testing positive for coronavirus". The Guardian. June 21, 2020.
  15. "'Shocking': Novak Djokovic raises eyebrows ignoring restrictions at charity tennis event". Nine News. June 10, 2020.
  16. "Nick Kyrgios calls Adria Tour 'bone-headed' after positive coronavirus tests". BBC. June 22, 2020.
  17. "Coronavirus: Novak Djokovic tests positive for COVID-19". Sky News. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  18. PA Media (2020-06-26). "Novak Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic tests positive for coronavirus". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26.
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