'It is clear that not everyone likes him' - Pierre-Hugues Herbert defends Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic and his ill-timed Adria Tour have raised a storm over the last few days, with multiple players testing positive for COVID-19. Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Djokovic himself contracted the dreaded virus during the second leg of the tour held in Zadar, leading to the cancellation of the entire event.
The tour, hosted and funded by Novak Djokovic and his family, was controversial from the very beginning. There were no social distancing norms, and also maximum capacity crowds as well as full-fledged press meets. At one point, the players were even seen dancing in a nightclub in Belgrade with their shirts off.
The participants at the tournament, including the likes of Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, have all issued apologies through their social media accounts. But Djokovic as the host faced the brunt of the heat from the tennis world, with the brickbats still flowing in relentlessly.
A few players have, however, come to the defence of Novak Djokovic amid the whole debacle. One such voice is that of World No. 71 Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who had some kind words for the Serb
Novak Djokovic spends a lot of time on tennis and the players: Herbert
As reported by Swiss magazine AZ, at first Herbert pointed out the poor judgment on Djokovic's part and said that the Adria Tour event was held 'too early'.
"I was happy that tennis was played again. It should be a big fiesta. In the end it unfortunately turned into a nightmare. It wasn't the best idea and just too early," said Herbert.
But the Frenchman then said that the unfortunate turn of events wasn't enough to ostracize the World No. 1 or make him the pantomime villain of the game. Herbert further went on to talk about Novak Djokovic and the role he plays in developing players and the sport overall.
The Serb is currently serving as the President of the ATP Player Council, a position for which he was elected in 2016.
"Novak has a lot of ideas. It is clear that not everyone likes them. But he spends a lot of time on tennis and us players. That's why I'm defending him."
The World No. 71 later talked about the US Open, and shared some of Novak Djokovic's earlier concerns about the the safety restrictions being proposed. The Frenchman thinks the absence of sharing 'emotions with the audience' might rob the tournament of some of its magic.
"You fly to New York to play tennis in front of empty stands instead of sharing the emotions with the audience. You spend time in the hotel, wear masks and are not allowed to go to Manhattan," said Herbert.