I feel really bad for Novak Djokovic because his idea was amazing: Donna Vekic
Novak Djokovic has been at the receiving end of a barrage of criticism after his brainchild, the Adria Tour, had to be cancelled because of a COVID-19 outbreak among the players. But Croatian tennis player Donna Vekic has come out in support of the beleaguered Serb, saying that his heart was in the right place.
The Adria Tour, organised by Novak Djokovic through his Novak Djokovic Foundation, comprised a series of exhibition matches between top-ranked players. The featured stars included Djokovic himself, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and a few others.
After the successful completion of the first leg of the Adria Tour in Novak Djokovic's native Belgrade, the exhibition tournament ran into rough weather during in Zadar. A plethora of players - Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Djokovic himself - tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the entire tournament being called off.
Critics had been skeptical about the tournament during the first leg itself. At a time when COVID-19 is wreaking havoc across the globe, the Adria Tour featured capacity crowds as well as linesmen and ball kids, while also being lax about safety protocols like social distancing. Moreover, players hugged and shook hands with each other, mingled freely with fans and even took part in a shirtless player party.
Following the announcement of the positive COVID-19 cases at the tournament, Novak Djokovic has faced the brunt of the ire from his peers. Over the last few days, the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Dan Evans and Noah Rubin have all voiced their disapproval of the Serb's decision-making.
However, Frenchman Gilles Simon recently came out in support of Novak Djokovic, saying that the World No. 1 was not solely to blame for the COVID-19 cases at the Adria Tour. Simon's sentiment has since found resonance with Croatian WTA player Donna Vekic too.
Vekic was present during the second leg of the Adria Tour in Zadar, but tested negative for COVID-19. She has now given her thoughts on the whole controversy through a detailed statement.
I feel really bad for Novak Djokovic because his idea was amazing: Donna Vekic
Donna Vekic believes that it is not fair to criticize Novak Djokovic, as the people in Serbia and Croatia have not been following COVID-19 restrictions and protocols anyway. She gave the example of packed restaurants and clubs to drive home her point.
"I feel really, really bad for Novak because his idea was amazing. It's tough to judge because the situation in Serbia and Croatia is like people are behaving without any restrictions, not just at the tennis. If you go out to the restaurants and the clubs, you will see they are packed like person to person."
The World No. 24 further said that the idea behind Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour was to bring together some of the world's best players and raise money to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. But as fate would have it, the Adria Tour itself fell victim to the dreaded virus.
Despite Novak Djokovic's good intentions, poor implementation of safety precautions and other protocols at the Adria Tour meant that the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak in the tournament was always high. As it so happened, the tournament had to be cancelled before the final of the second leg could be played because of a spate of positive cases.
"I feel so, so bad for Novak, and honestly to bring so many top players to Croatia, and I was like 'Wow, You are doing are really good job, and it was all for charity.' So I feel really bad it ended like this. He only had good intentions."