Monaco’s 100th case of Covid-19 is tennis star Grigor Dimitrov, who had just returned from an exhibition tournament in Croatia after feeling unwell. Two coaches and another tennis player have since tested positive, sending shockwaves throughout the tennis world.
Around the same time that the Monaco government revealed on Sunday that it had recorded it’s 100th case of Covid-19, the Bulgarian tennis ace Grigor Dimitrov took to Instagram to announce that he had tested positive for virus in Monaco. It was a chilling announcement, considering Dimitrov had been playing in the Adria Tour, an exhibition event organised by Novak Djokovic and his team.
The world number 19 had played in the Serbian and Croatian legs of the exhibition tournament and lost in straight sets to Borna Coric in Zadar on Saturday before returning home after feeling unwell.
In the wake of Dimitrov’s post, the organisers of the tour quickly took to Instagram to confirm the tennis player had returned a positive test in Monaco and announced the cancellation of the Grand Final scheduled for the coming hours, adding: “None of the people involved in the organisation and who have been in contact with Grigor have any symptoms.”
However, the fallout came swiftly and it was revealed just hours later that of the 22 people who had close contact with the tennis player and were tested, three had returned positive results – Borna Coric, the world No 33 from Croatia, Dimitrov’s coach Christian Groh and Djokovic’s fitness trainer Marko Paniki.
Djokovic and Dimitrov have reportedly been in extremely close contact in recent weeks, playing football and basketball matches together, hanging out and partying at a nightclub. Which is why many have questioned why Djokovic didn’t test himself for the virus before leaving Zadar. Apparently, he didn’t think it was necessary, with the tournament organisers releasing this statement:
“Novak did not feel any symptoms or anyone from his environment, including the professional staff, so he did not go for testing now. After arriving home in Belgrade, he will contact the epidemiologist, and he will continue the procedure to his doctor according to the recommendations of the medical service.”
Over 1,000 people have been tested since the news about Dimitrov’s health conditions broke. The 29-year-old is now being treated under the Home Patient Monitoring Centre in Monaco.
UPDATE: On Tuesday 23rd June it was revealed that World number one Novak Djokovic and his wife had tested positive for Covid-19. Tennis player Viktor Troicki had also returned a positive test.
Photo: Dimitrov playing at the 2019 US Open