Novak Djokovic or Grigor Dimitrov? Tracing the primary carrier of COVID-19 at the Adria Tour
Novak Djokovic's announcement about testing positive for COVID-19 rocked the tennis world on Tuesday afternoon. Djokovic's testing and diagnosis were a result of a chain of events that started with the disregard of social distancing norms at his Adria Tour.
The unraveling began with Bulgarian tennis ace Grigor Dimitrov announcing his positive test result on Sunday. As is expected with the highly contagious nature of this virus, more participants of the Adria Tour - including players and staff - quickly followed suit.
Among them were Croatia's Borna Coric, Serbia's Viktor Troicki, Novak Djokovic's fitness coach Marko Panichi and finally 17-time Grand Slam champion himself.
It will forever be a mystery who the primary carrier of the virus at the Adria Tour was. Some believe it to be Grigor Dimitrov, but there is a reasonable argument for Novak Djokovic himself being the primary carrier as well.
All of this is mere speculation based on the chronology of events, but it is pertinent to take a closer look at how exactly the joyous event turned into a coronavirus hotspot.
Novak Djokovic had attended an event with 2 others who tested positive
The earliest concerns over Novak Djokovic having been exposed to the virus were raised 10 days ago, when the tennis legend had attended a basketball game. That game had also seen the presence of Serbian basketball player Nikola Jankovic, who tested positive early last week.
It was later reported that Novak Djokovic was sitting beside Serbia's biggest basketball star and Denver Nuggets player Nikola Jokic, who also last week tested positive for coronavirus despite not showing symptoms.
Jankovic had announce his positive test result four days after the game, and Jokic had tested positive soon after.
If Jankovic and Jokic, who were both at the game with Novak Djokovic, tested positive last week, there's a strong chance that Djokovic was carrying the virus for more than a week - even before the Belgrade leg of the Adria Tour commenced.
As observed with most elite athletes who have contracted the virus, none of the three champions in their field showed any symptoms leading up to their positive test.
Novak Djokovic had also shared a light embrace with Jokic after the game.
Grigor Dimitrov's pre-Adria travel activity under the scanner
Grigor Dimitrov has been receiving a lot of heat in the Croatian media lately. As per reports, Dimitrov had been showing symptoms since Friday - a day before the Zadar leg of the Adria Tour kicked off. But the Bulgarian apparently refused to be tested, and went on to play against Coric on Saturday - before pulling out of his second match against Novak Djokovic
"Grigor Dimitrov endangered the health of his colleagues and everyone around him during the tournament. If he had reported in time that he was not feeling well, the virus would probably not have spread on the Adria Tour," read a report in Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List.
However, Djordje Djokovic - one of Adria Tour's organizers and Novak's youngest brother, rebuked these claims. He said that Grigor Dimitrov didn't have a high temperature before his positive test, and only had a minor elbow injury.
The youngest Djokovic insisted they did everything they could, but also said - and this is the most shocking part - that testing wasn't mandatory and was left to the discretion of the players.
Serbian broadcaster b92 also reported that Grigor Dimitrov had arrived in Belgrade from the United States, the country with the highest number of COVID cases in the world. After the wrap-up of the Belgrade leg, the Bulgarian had returned to his home country for a short while before leaving for the Zadar leg in Croatia.
So Grigor Dimitrov had been in four different countries in a span of three weeks before returning to Monte-Carlo to get tested. It is impossible to identify where he contracted the virus, if at all he was already carrying the virus while entering Serbia. But if the Bulgarian did travel with any symptoms, it would be insanely irresponsible on his part.
Viktor Troicki under suspicion as well
Another player who could have unknowingly been the primary carrier of the virus at the Adria Tour is Novak Djokovic's compatriot Viktor Troicki.
Troicki had revealed on Monday night that he had tested positive for coronavirus on the previous weekend along with his wife - who is eight months pregnant.
This means that Troicki could have been carrying the virus for the entirety of the Belgrade leg of the Adria Tour. The former World No. 12 was heavily criticized on social media for playing the Belgrade leg despite showing symptoms.