'As low as it gets' - Grigor Dimitrov's former coach slams Novak Djokovic's father
The tennis world is still reeling from the announcement by World No. 1 Novak Djokovic that he had tested positive for COVID-19. The recklessness displayed by some of the sport's biggest names at Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour - including Djokovic himself, Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem and others - has shocked fans and media all over the world.
The drama escalated even further on Wednesday when Srdjan Djokovic launched a scathing attack on Grigor Dimitrov, squarely blaming him for the Adria Tour debacle. And now, the Bulgarian's former coach Daniel Vallverdu has responded to Srdjan's accusations.
The blame game has begun over Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour
As soon as the chain of unfortunate events culminated with the 17-time Grand Slam champion announcing his positive test result on Tuesday, the blame game began about who the biggest culprit for the mess was.
While there is a strong possibility of more than one player being the primary carrier of the virus, Novak Djokovic's father Srdjan seems convinced that it was none other than Grigor Dimitrov who had brought the virus to his son's showcase tournament.
Srdjan unloaded on Dimitrov for "inflicting great damage" on the Djokovic family as well as Serbia and Croatia, while seemingly absolving Novak Djokovic of any wrongdoing.
Djokovic Sr immediately faced a wave of backlash for his statements, with fans from all corners slamming him for trying to shift the blame away from his son. The extraordinary tirade even inspired Dimitrov's agent to release a statement and clarify that the Bulgarian had followed all the protocols laid down by the tournament.
Grigor Dimitrov's former coach comes to his defense
Now, Grigor Dimitrov's former coach Daniel Vallverdu has also joined in the chorus of opposition to Srdjan. The Swiss super-coach seemingly could not believe the brazen blame game being played by the older Djokovic, and lashed out at the World No. 1's father.
Vallverdu boasts a very impressive coaching resume despite his young age - he has worked with the likes of Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro, Dimitrov, Stan Wawrinka and Karolina Pliskova already. The 34-year-old took to Twitter to defend his ex-employer, and didn't mince his words.
Vallverdu, who split with Grigor Dimitrov in 2019, opined that Srdjan Djokovic shouldn't be provided a platform to make any public comments at all. He also called Srdjan's rant against Dimitrov "as low as it gets".
This isn't the first time that Novak Djokovic's father Srdjan has invited criticism towards himself as well as his son. Novak's old man has been frequently described as the quintessential troublemaker in tennis, particularly because of his regular potshots at Swiss legend Roger Federer.
As you would expect, Srdjan's words don't sit well with Federer fans, and he often ruffles the feathers of even the most neutral of tennis watchers. But both Federer fans and Djokovic fans would probably agree that this time the senior Djokovic went too far.