Novak Djokovic says he would "like to organize the Adria Tour again", claims "last year was fun"
Novak Djokovic recently revealed that he would like to organize a second edition of the much-maligned Adria Tour. Djokovic believes the central theme of the event is "beautiful", given that it uses the medium of sport to unite people across countries.
Novak Djokovic had organized the first edition of the Adria Tour in Serbia and Croatia last June. The objective behind the tournament was to provide relief for tennis-starved fans and players during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the tour was suspended.
But the plan backfired as many participants, including Novak Djokovic himself, flouted the pandemic-specific health and safety regulations. The Serb, along with a bunch of other players, was even filmed partying and dancing without masks or social distancing.
It wasn't long before Novak Djokovic, his wife Jelena and coach Goran Ivanisevic tested positive for COVID-19. Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric also returned positive tests, as did Viktor Troicki and his then-pregnant wife Aleksandra.
Naturally, the Adria Tour received lots of flak from people around the world, with many blaming Novak Djokovic for the debacle. But while speaking to the media ahead of his Belgrade 2 campaign, the 34-year-old surprisingly declared that he would be happy to organize the second edition of the event.
"I would also like to organize the Adria Tour again," Novak Djokovic said. "I think this idea is beautiful, to help tennis in the Balkans, to unite the region with the help of sport. It is one of the few areas that unites people."
Despite the many controversies and mishaps surrounding the first Adria Tour, Novak Djokovic believes the event was "fun". He also expressed his desire to travel across the region and play the sport that he loves.
"I think what we managed to put together last year was fun and I want that to continue," the Serb added. "As a tennis player, I want to travel as much as possible to the region and countries of the former Yugoslavia."
The Belgrade 2 tournament was a surprise for all of us: Novak Djokovic
The Belgrade 2 event was a last-minute addition to the ATP calendar, which was largely made possible by the postponement of the 2021 French Open. While speaking with the media on Sunday, Novak Djokovic admitted that the event came as a welcome surprise to all parties involved.
Djokovic further revealed that his tennis academy (which hosts the Belgrade event) will be home to a couple more events in the coming years, once some semblance of normalcy returns.
"This tournament (Belgrade 2) was a surprise for all of us due to the postponement of Roland Garros for a week," Novak Djokovic said. "Under normal conditions, in the next few years we will have an ATP tournament and a WTA tournament."
The Serb also believes that for a country to do well in tennis, it must have several tennis tournaments so as to give youngsters a cost-effective and logistically easy way of honing their skills.
"The success of a country in tennis lies in the number of tournaments that are played at home," Djokovic added. "We are working to organize more tournaments in the future . For the youngest who are starting, having more tournaments at home will mean that there are less trips and therefore less expenses."