Goran Ivanisevic defends Novak Djokovic after Covid-19 outbreak at Adria Tour

Updated 25/06/2020 at 10:06 GMT

Novak Djokovic's coach Goran Ivanisevic has defended his player after the abandonment of the Adria Tour due to an outbreak of Covid-19.

Novak Djokovic à l'entraînement vec Goran Ivanisevic

Image credit: Getty Images

The Croatian praised the world number one for what he believes is a philanthropic gesture during the pandemic.

Nick Kyrgios, Andy Murray and other tennis figures have spoken out against Djokovic's tour after positive tests for the player himself, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki.

In a statement following his diagnosis, Djokovic apologised for holding the tournament, saying: "I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection, I hope that it will not complicate anyone's health situation and that everyone will be fine."

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And Ivanisevic put forward a staunch defence of his player.

"Everybody is smart now, and they are attacking Novak. He tried to do a great thing, a humanitarian thing. We were locked down for three months. He organized this tour," Ivanisevic told the New York Times as he defended Djokovic.

The players came in Belgrade and we had good tennis and a good atmosphere. Everything in Serbia and everything in Croatia was done with the recommendations by the government.

Videos of Djokovic and other players at a nightclub circulated on social media but Ivanisevic spoke of individual responsibility.

"OK, maybe you didn’t need this,” he said. "But they are all individuals. Nobody forced anybody to come into that club. Nobody forced anybody to dance. Nobody can tell you to go on the stage, take your shirt off and dance.

“And how do you know anyone even got infected at that party?”