'Nobody died at his tournament' - Serbian doctor in shocking defense of Novak Djokovic

An embattled Novak Djokovic has borne the brunt of criticism from players, tennis experts and fans for 'recklessly' organizing a tennis tournament in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the beleaguered Serb has received plenty of support from his own countrymen, and the latest to join that brigade is pulmonologist Dr. Branimir Nestorovic.

Nestorovic, who is close to Novak Djokovic, has come to his compatriot's defence by declaring that the Adria Tour wasn't a mistake, despite Djokovic himself admitting to the contrary. Nestorovic, however, did imply that the (shirtless) player party should have been avoided.

"He brought all those people to Belgrade," Nestorovic said. "The tournament is not a mistake; whether they made a mistake with the party, we can already discuss that."

The doctor then made a rather shocking analogy by saying that getting infected by COVID-19 was akin to having an affair with an HIV+ woman. He also declared that 'everybody has the right to be infected', as though contracting coronavirus was a 'right' rather than a misfortune.

"Nobody can forbid me to have an affair with an HIV + woman and get infected," Nestorovic said. "Everyone has the right to be infected, and it was difficult to be a champion if you are a Serb."

"MENI NIKO NE MOŽE DA ZABRANI DA BUDEM SA HIV+ ŽENOM!" Doktor Nestrović branio Novaka Đokovića na SVOJ način: Niko nije umro na turniru, ovi što ga napadaju su za PSIHIJATRIJU!https://t.co/RLDUQ52gxj#Tenis #novakdjokovic #Đoković #Nestorović #koronavirus #Srbija #koronasrbija

— BlicSport (@BlicSport) July 4, 2020

Tennis players are defending Novak Djokovic: Nestorovic

Novak Djokovic

Dr. Nestorovic continued with his outrageous defence of Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour, saying that it wasn't a big deal since nobody had died or even fallen seriously ill.

"Nobody died at Novak's tournament. A couple of them got infected, and that’s it, they weren’t even seriously ill. He was attacked, it was already for psychiatry."

The pulmonologist provided examples of tennis players defending Novak Djokovic over his Adria Tour fiasco, while conveniently ignoring the fact that a majority of players have slammed the World No. 1.

"Now tennis players are defending him," Nestorovic said. "A tennis player's career does not go if he sits in bunkers and does not train."

Nestorovic concluded by saying that Dino Radja has also said 'nice' things about Novak Djokovic. Radja is a well-known Croatian basketball player who posted a lengthy Facebook status in defense of Djokovic in the aftermath of the Adria Tour blowup.

"Novak is a wonderful man and a great lover of people," Nestorovic said. "Dino Radja said everything nicely (about him)."

Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour was a tournament held in the Balkan nations between top-ranked players like himself, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov and others, to raise money to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

However, the tournament, despite its noble intentions, succumbed to the very virus because of poorly implemented safety protocols. At a time when the threat of COVID-19 has not yet abated, the Adria Tour featured linesmen, ball kids, matches played to full houses and players embracing and shaking hands with each other.

After an incident-free first leg in Belgrade, the Adria Tour ran into rough weather during its second leg in Zadar. Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, Viktor Troicki and Novak Djokovic himself tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the Adria Tour to be cancelled.

pic.twitter.com/vR18zKhtL8

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 23, 2020