Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic introduces herself to Djokovic: "Leave Novak alone"
Novak Djokovic , as co-initiator of the Adria Tour, has received a lot of criticism. After his positive COVID-19 test, Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic now placed in front of the world rankings.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jun 29, 2020, 02:26 pm
"If the blame now hits me as Prime Minister and Novak is left alone, I would prefer that," said Brnabic Pink TV . "It is our mistake, we have lifted the restrictions. If we hadn't done that, the tournament would not have existed, so leave the man who wanted to do something good and brave alone. ”
It is the worst to criticize from the living room couch from Djokovic for his good intentions, said Brnabic accordingly. “Full support for Novak Djokovic, he wanted to raise money not only for us in Serbia, but for humanitarian aid. In this epidemic, you cannot know whether it was the right time for it. ”
Niki Pilic: "Djokovic had nothing bad in mind"
Niki Pilic, former coach of Djokovic, also stood protectively against the 17-time Grand Slam winner. "I don't think it is right to blame Novak on my own," Pilic told the Munich Merkur media group: "Novak has complied with all requirements and wanted to give the sport a bit of normality."
The situation in Croatia or Serbia is "really not comparable to the situation in the USA, for example," said Pilic, who lives in the Croatian coastal city of Opatija. Of course, not everything went perfectly: "Did it really have to be 4,000 spectators? Should we have tested a lot more intensively? These are legitimate questions. But Novak had nothing bad in mind. I know him too well for that."
At the first stop of the Adria Tour, the participants celebrated with a naked torso in a Belgrade nightclub. There was a whistle on distance rules, meanwhile a large number of people involved have tested positive for the corona virus. Goran Ivanisevic, Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric are among the infected.
Serbia was able to prevent high death rates in contrast to other European countries such as Italy or Great Britain. The country from the Balkans only recorded 254 new cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of positive corona cases to over 14,000.