Novak Djokovic finally gets tested for COVID-19 in Serbia
In the aftermath of the shocking announcement by Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov that he had tested positive for COVID-19, his Croatian counterpart Borna Coric made a similar announcement earlier today. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic's fitness coach Marko Panichi and Dimitrov's coach Kristijan Groh followed suit, but Djokovic himself didn't undergo a test while still in Croatia - citing lack of any symptoms.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion instead chose to travel back to his hometown of Belgrade and consult the epidemiologist and his doctors first. The news of Novak Djokovic's fitness coach testing positive after Borna Coric added even more pressure on Djokovic to get tested, but to no avail.
Needless to say, the World No. 1's decision to fly back to Belgrade before getting tested attracted a lot of criticism, from fans and the media alike.
Now as per the most recent reports coming out of Serbia, Novak Djokovic has finally got himself and his entire family tested for COVID-19 in Belgrade. The results of the tests are still awaited.
Update: It has now been confirmed that Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena have tested positive for the virus.
Novak Djokovic and his fellow Adria Tour participants advised to take strict precautions
Serbian broadcaster SportKlub had reported that following Dimitrov's announcement, 22 people who were in direct contact with the Bulgarian were tested. 19 of those tests returned negative while three - Coric, Panichi and Groh were positive.
Among those who tested negative were Coric's fellow Croatian Marin Cilic, German World No. 7 Alexander Zverev and young Russian sensation Andrey Rublev. Cilic had declared that he would be self-isolating for 14 days despite the negative result, to prevent any potential spread of the virus just in case his test result was inaccurate. The others who tested negative are currently being advised to do the same.
Andrey Rublev also took to Twitter to announce that he would be in self-isolation for 14 days despite testing negative.
World No. 3 Dominic Thiem, who played only the Belgrade leg of the Adria Tour, got himself tested twice - first in Austria and then again after arriving in Nice for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown. Fortunately, both tests returned negative.
The recent developments could throw tennis' ongoing 'Exhibition Tour' into disarray. The final leg of Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour, scheduled to begin in two weeks in Bosnia's Banja Luka, looks all but officially cancelled. Dominic Thiem's invitational tournament "Thiem's 7" back in Austria could also see many changes in personnel and scheduling, as Dimitrov, Coric and Rublev were all supposed to participate in the event.
For now the tennis world would be hoping that Novak Djokovic tests negative for the virus, so that its spread can be efficiently controlled and managed.