Djokovic thumps king of clay Nadal to enter third round
The two greats of the racquet game, both in the evening of their fabulous journey in tennis, have fought many a pitched battle between themselves in their glittering careers.
Manchester United’s Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic has expressed solidarity with his countrymate and world number one Tennis player Novak Djokovic who has been at the receiving end of severe criticism after organising the Adria Tour which resulted in various players testing positive for the coronavirus. Djokovic, too, has been tested positive.
“Mice came out of the hole and gave themselves the right to criticise the world number one, in tennis but also how he relates to all other people in the world,” Matic wrote in an open letter in support of Djokovic published by Serbian media.
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“But I don’t care. Very soon the cat (Djokovic) will be on the court, and the mice in the hole.
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“The only thing for which I resent Novak is that he apologises to the mice who criticise him for no reason. No, Nole. They will apologise to you — soon.”
Matic also said that the Belgrade leg of the tour did not break any rules of the land in relation to coronavirus. The tour was set to consist of tournaments in cities across Baltic countries and was played in Belgrade and Zadar, Croatia. Social distancing rules had been relaxed in the countries and the matches featured packed stadiums and there were videos of the players partying over the course of the tour.
Djokovic and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and are currently in 14 days of self-isolation. Their children, however, tested negative. Djokovic is reportedly asymptomatic.
“The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive, just as Jelena’s, while the results of our children are negative,” Djokovic released in a statement released by him on his website.
“Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions. Our tournament meant to unite and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region,” he added.
With IANS inputs
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