Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic enjoy a great relationship, but this time the Brit found it hard to remain neutral when asked to comment on the Adria Tour, the event organized and promoted by the world no.1. While the exhibition looked to have a great start with superb participation of the local crowd and a lot of positive vibes going around, the tennis community and beyond got shocked at seeing videos and pictures showing a complete disregard for social distancing. Eventually, things got predictably ugly when Grigor Dimitrov was tested positive to the Coronavirus before 5 other people participating or close to the event were also found infected. Among them, also Viktor Troicki and his pregnant wife Aleksandra were tested positive. She is expected to deliver in July.
Andy Murray is currently engaged in another event in the UK called the “Battle of the Brits.” When asked about his opinion about the Adria Tour and its consequences, the former world no.1 stressed the fact that he has a great relationship with Novak Djokovic, but that event wasn’t a great example.
“I have always had a good relationship with Novak. In hindsight with what’s happened there, it is not a good look. When you are going through a time like this it’s important any of the top athletes around the world should be showing that we are taking this extremely seriously and knowing that we are using social distancing measures and whatever it is,” said the Brit.
I hope that we learned from it
Andy added that what has happened in the Balkans could be an important learning curve and tennis has to be careful not to have other similar episodes for the sake of the Tour.
“Like when I’m getting treatment from my physio wearing masks and things just to reduce the risk as much as possible. I think it has been the case a little bit in golf as well there has been a few players flouting the rules and it’s just not a good look for the sport when something like this happens.
I hope that we learn from it and off the back of it they will be taking it extremely seriously because ultimately the tour won’t get back again if we are having problems every single week and the players are doing what they want. We need to make sure we are doing the right thing,” he added.
Murray vs.mass gathering
Finally, Andy added that mass gatherings need to be avoided to prevent the spread of the virus.
“But, once you start having mass gatherings with people coming in from all sorts of countries, it’s a recipe for it to kick off. It’s kind of a lesson for all of us to take, if we weren’t already, to take this extremely seriously, to have as many safety measures in place as possible,” he said.
Andy Murray in 2020
Ranked world no.129, Murray played his last match on the 20th of November 2019 when he beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-77 6-4 7-65 in the Rubber 1 of the Davis Cup.
Novak Djokovic in 2020
Now the world no.1, Novak played his last match on the 29th of February when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the final in Dubai to win his 79th career title.
Presently, this year Djokovic has a 18-0 win-loss record. The Serbian clinched 2 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open and in Dubai.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic played each other 36 times. The head to head is 25-11 for Djokovic. The last time that they played, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 5-7 6-4 in the final in Doha (Qatar ExxonMobil Open) in January 2017.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic |
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