It later emerged that three other players - Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic himself - had all contracted COVID-19. Tournament director and member of Djokovic’s coaching staff Goran Ivanisevic also ended up falling prey to the dreaded virus, despite having tested negative twice before.
The tour, hosted and funded by Novak Djokovic and members of his family, was controversial from the very start. There were packed crowds and full-fledged press meets with no social distancing, and the players were even seen dancing shirtless in a nightclub. Many observers had predicted - correctly - that the virus attack was inevitable.
After the debacle, the Serb and other top players have all apologized for their actions. Novak Djokovic has been the subject of relentless criticism ever since, with claims that he showed a lack of leadership, responsibility and concern.
Perhaps the most colorful of those critics was Marseille’s Open 13 director Jean-Francois Caujolle, who was had said Novak Djokovic had a ‘violent’ interior.
Caujolle had also drawn comparisons between Djokovic and his Big 3 peers Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, implying that the other two would have had more sense in a similar situation.
Caujolle has now, however, taken back his controversial remarks, claiming that too much was said earlier and that he is ’nobody to comment’ on the Serb.
I went too far regarding Novak Djokovic, says Jean-Francois Caujolle
As reported by L’Equipe, the Former French tennis player admitted that he had gone too far in his criticism of the World No. 1 and that he should have kept his emotions under control.
Caujolle further went on to say that he still believes what happened in Zadar was wrong, but putting Novak Djokovic on trial in this way was wrong.
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