Adria Tour
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| Adria Tour | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Location | Belgrade, Serbia Zadar, Croatia Montenegro Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Surface | Clay - outdoors |
The Adria Tour was an exhibition tennis tournament organized by Novak Djokovic during the ATP Tour's shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic planned in Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. 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 cancellation of the event.[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]
Proposal
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 organisers said that a one-metre 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. Dominic Thiem defeated surprise finalist Filip Krajinović in three sets in the first leg. The cancelled final of the second leg was to be Novak Djokovic against Andrey Rublev.
The singles competitors secured for the event were top players, compared to other unofficial tournaments around the same time.[9] They were Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Dušan Lajović, Grigor Dimitrov, Filip Krajinović, Viktor Troicki, Nikola Milojević and Damir Džumhur.
Finals
| Location | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrade |  Dominic Thiem
|
 Filip Krajinović
|
4–3(7–2), 2–4, 4–2 |
| Zadar | Novak Djokovic vs.  Andrey Rublev
|
Final cancelled[10] | |
| Montenegro | Tournament cancelled[11] | ||
| Banja Luka | Tournament cancelled[12] | ||
| Sarajevo | Tournament cancelled[12] | ||
Positive tests
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.[13] 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.[10]
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.[14]
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.[15] 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.[16]
On 26 June, Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanišević confirmed that he tested positive for the virus as well.[17]
References
- ^ Sharma, Aryan (June 21, 2020). ""It's Hard To Explain To People" - Novak Djokovic Defends Decision To Have Crowds At The Adria Tour".
- ^ "Grigor Dimitrov tests positive for coronavirus after feeling unwell at Adria Tour". Eurosport. June 21, 2020.
- ^ "Borna Coric also tests positive for coronavirus after Grigor Dimitrov case". Eurosport. June 22, 2020.
- ^ "Djokovic has tested positive for coronavirus". ESPN.com. 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ a b "Viktor Troicki becomes fifth Adria Tour participant to test positive for coronavirus - report". Eurosport. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Novak Djokovic twitter post". Twitter. May 22, 2020.
- ^ "Exhibition events fill void during tennis shutdown - but will any stick around when normality returns?". The National. June 9, 2020.
- ^ Stojanović, Dušan (2020-06-12). "Djokovic defends packing the stands at tennis charity tour event in Serbia". Press Herald. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Zverev joins Djokovic, Thiem, Dimitrov in playing the Adria Tour". Tennis Tonic. May 26, 2020.
- ^ a b "Adria Tour final cancelled". Adria Tour. 21 June 2020.
- ^ "Adria Tour event in Montenegro cancelled". Adria Tour. 13 June 2020.
- ^ a b "The Organizing Committee of the Adria Tour made a decision on the cancellation of further events". Adria Tour. 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Grigor Dimitrov 'so sorry' after testing positive for coronavirus". The Guardian. June 21, 2020.
- ^ "'Shocking': Novak Djokovic raises eyebrows ignoring restrictions at charity tennis event". Nine News. June 10, 2020.
- ^ "Nick Kyrgios calls Adria Tour 'bone-headed' after positive coronavirus tests". BBC. June 22, 2020.
- ^ "Coronavirus: Novak Djokovic tests positive for COVID-19". Sky News. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ PA Media (2020-06-26). "Novak Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic tests positive for coronavirus". the Guardian.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)