NOT DJOKOVIC’S FAULT. Danilovic joins Yastremska in sending her love to Nole

Olga Danilovic and Dayana Yastremska decided to publicly support Novak Djokovic after the disgraced Adria Tour. The world no.1 had certainly all the good intentions to stage a great event in the Balkans for a good cause (charity), but it was too soon and not well executed with practically no social distancing observed. The outcome was that some players and members of the teams were infected and therefore the tour suspended. Numerous images and videos circulating online about “wild” parties and other activities in close contact were not well received from the broader public.

The Adria Tour was Novak’s brainchild, but is he Serbian legend the one to be blamed? That’s a big “no” for Olga Danilovic that sent a heartfelt open letter to Novak as below.

“Dear Nole,
First of all, I wish you, members of your family, your team, Grigor, Borna and everyone who is fighting the battle with Covid-19 a speedy recovery. I wanted to contribute to the magnitude of the event and the ultimate goal, which was to raise funds for humanitarian purposes. In the end, it did not turn out the way we all wanted, but I also know that we all tried to adhere to the prescribed measures.

It has already been said, but again, each spectator was given a mask and instructions at the entrance and was able to disinfect his hands at every step. That’s why it’s ugly to shift the responsibility to one person, everyone had a choice to use that mask or even not come to the tournament if they didn’t want to! That is why we are all responsible, just as the whole world is responsible for spreading the pandemic.

I witnessed how much it meant to all of you, you did not spare yourself to give every kid a smile and a nice word and to have the patience for everyone. I may have done better because not every spectator wanted to touch me as a deity, to ask me a question or read what he dedicated to me.

You had respect for everyone who approached you. Grigor was really warmly welcomed in Belgrade and he reciprocated with his immediacy and I sincerely hope that he will soon be better. And Borna was a real host in Zadar for all of us, just like the Croatian Tennis Association and other players, and I want to thank everyone for that.

All participants, members of the organization and spectators recognized the magnitude and goodwill of your idea that through what we do best, and that is to play tennis, help those who need it.

We, as professional athletes, are used to knowing the opponent from the other side of the net, to know what his tactics are and to compete in sports. We are used to fair play, and this insidious opponent stopped the life of the entire planet, and thus made a much larger number of people need help. That is why I want to repeat that I was honored that you invited me and believed that together we can help people who are endangered.

After this, some things will not be the same, first of all, believe me, the list of true friends.”

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Dragi Nole, Pre svega tebi,clanovima tvoje porodice,tvog tima, Grigoru,Borni i svima koji biju bitku sa Covid-19 zelim brz oporavak.Zelim da ti se zahvalim na pozivu da ucestvujem u humanitarnom projektu Adria Tour i ukazanom poverenju da moje prisustvo i igra mogu da doprinesu velicini dogadjaja i krajnjem cilju,a to je bilo prikupljanje sredstava u humanitarne svrhe. Na kraju nije ispalo onako kako smo svi zeleli ali takodje znam da smo se svi trudili da se pridrzavamo propisanih mera. Vec je receno,ali ponovicu,svaki gledalac je na ulazu dobijao masku i uputstva i mogao je dezinfikovati ruke na svakom koraku. Zato je ruzno prebacivati odgovornost na jednu osobu,svako je imao izbor da upotrebi tu masku ili cak i da ne dodje na turnir ako ne zeli! Zbog toga smo svi odgovorni,bas kao sto je i ceo svet odgovoran za sirenje pandemije. Bila sam svedok koliko se pre svih ti, nisi stedeo, da svakom klincu podelis osmeh i po koju lepu rec i da si imao strpljenja za svakoga. Ja sam mozda i prosla bolje sto nije svaki gledalac pozeleo da me dotakne kao bozanstvo,da me ponesto upita ili procita sta mi je posvetio. Ti si imao postovanja za svakoga ko ti se obratio. Grigor je u Beogradu zaista toplo docekan i on je to uzvratio svojom neposrednoscu i iskreno se nadam da ce mu uskoro biti bolje. A Borna je u Zadru bio pravi domacin svima nama bas kao i teniski savez Hrvatske i ostali igraci i svima zelim da se zahvalim na tome. Svi ucesnici, clanovi organizacije i gledaoci su prepoznali velicinu i dobrodusnost tvoje ideje da kroz ono sto najbolje radimo,a to je da igramo tenis,pomognemo onima kojima je to potrebno. Mi,kao profesionalni sportisti,navikli smo da poznajemo protivnika sa druge strane mreze,da znamo koja mu je taktika i da se sportski nadmecemo. Navikli smo na fer plej,a ovaj podmukli protivnik zaustavio je zivot cele planete,a samim tim i ucinio da je mnogo vecem broju ljudi potrebna pomoc. Zbog toga zelim da ponovim da mi je bila cast sto si me pozvao i verovao da zajedno mozemo da pomognemo ljudima koji su ugrozeni.Posle ovoga neke stvari nece biti isti,pre svega, veruj mi, spisak pravih prijatelja.

A post shared by Olga Danilovic (@danilovicolga) on Jun 25, 2020 at 11:48am PDT

World no.25 Dayana Yastremska posted a similar message on social media also stating that it is not fair to blame the organization for what has happened.

Olga Danilovic in 2020

Ranked world no.168, the Serbian played her last match on the 6^th of March when she was defeated by Lesya Tsurenko 2-6 7-5 7-5 in the quarter of the Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells.

Dayana Yastremska in 2020

At the moment ranked no.25, the Ukrainian played her last match on the 26^th of February when she surrendered to Garbine Muguruza 6-2 6-4 in the 3^rd round in Doha.

Dayana Yastremska’s most significant result of the present year was getting to the final in Adelaide.

Olga Danilovic and Dayana Yastremska have never played each other. The last time that they fought against each other, Dayana Yastremska won 6-0 6-4 in the 3^rd round in Wimbledon (juniors) (Wimbledon (juniors)) in July 2016.

Novak Djokovic in 2020

At the moment ranked no.1, Novak played his last match on the 29^th of February when he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 in the final in Dubai to win his 79^th career title.

During this season Djokovic has a 18-0 win-loss record. Djokovic clinched 2 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open and in Dubai.