Dominic Thiem (N.3), Alexander Zverev (N.7) and Grigor Dimitrov (N.19) will join the child of the country and world number one Saturday and Sunday for the first of a series of charity meetings which will takes place in the Balkans from June 13 to July 5.
The immense popularity of “Nole” in Serbia and in the whole region, made possible the organization of this “Adria tour” which will give life to tennis, after three months of stopping the ATP and WTA circuits, still stopped until early August.
In Belgrade, the stars will also have the pleasure of resuming competition in front of a greedy audience, the new deconfinement measures, which came into force on June 1 in Serbia, allowing up to 1,000 spectators to open sporting events, as will be the “Adria tour”.
The matches will be played on clay in two winning sets, of four games each, in the Novak tennis center, funded by the star’s family, with its breathtaking view of the Danube.
Safety first
The tickets, which went on sale online on June 3, were rounded up in seven minutes. The matches will also be broadcast in more than 100 countries, said tournament director Djordje Djokovic, Novak’s younger brother.
The public and participants’ health security will be one of the main priorities.
“Each spectator will receive a mask at the entrance, disinfection products will be distributed throughout the complex and the entire sports center will be disinfected after each event,” said the brother of the world star.
“The players are looking forward to resuming competition,” said Novak, announcing the tournament. “We are professionals in this sport and want to play,” said the world No.1 who will be deprived of his best enemies, Roger Federer, who will be out for the rest of the season due to another knee operation, and Rafael Nadal who only recently resumed training.
“Given the situation, I did not have the nerve to call them to invite them,” noted Djokovic.
Djokovic and Thiem in good shape
“Djoko”, like Thiem, was able to train throughout confinement. “I had a tennis court and could therefore train every day,” said “Nole”, who spent the period of isolation in Spain.
Dominic Thiem said he was convinced that he would be “the most ready player” on the board in Belgrade, after having played “matches in the Pro series in Austria”.
After Belgrade, the “Adria Tour” will travel to Zadar, on the Croatian Adriatic coast, where “Nole” and his colleagues will be joined by two Croatian tennis stars Marin Cilic (N. 37), winner of the US Open in 2014 , and Borna Coric (N. 33).
The tournament will also pass through Montenegro and Bosnia before ending on July 5 with an exhibition match in Sarajevo between Bosnian number one Damir Dzumhur (N. 107) and Novak Djokovic.
“In Sarajevo and in Bosnia, people really love Djokovic (…) it will be an exceptional event for them, an ideal opportunity to see Novak up close,” said Dzumhur.
The Balkan countries have been relatively spared from the Covid-19 pandemic and have recorded less than 25,000 cases for around 750 deaths in a region of some 22 million people.
AFP
Created: 11.06.2020, 19h21
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