Novak Djokovic doesn't believe in the sanctity of science, says Mary Carillo

Former tennis player and present-day NBC Sports presenter Mary Carillo has heavily criticized Novak Djokovic for not following safety protocols at his ill-fated Adria Tour, and for belittling science as a whole.

Novak Djokovic is 18-0 for the year after winning all six of his singles matches for Serbia at the inaugural ATP Cup and following up with titles at the Australian Open and Dubai. Mary Carillo applauded the Serb for his unbeaten start to the year, but also slammed him for organizing the Adria Tour in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic without appropriate restrictions.

"Novak Djokovic is 18-0 for the year. He won the first Grand Slam title in Australia. He has been the player of the decade. A guy who's been playing and beating the all-time greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He hosted this thing. It started in Serbia two weeks ago. Then they went to Croatia. There were no global pandemic protocols followed at all," Carillo said.

Carillo slammed Novak Djokovic and the organisers of the Adria Tour for paying scant regard to the global COVID-19 situation and believing that the worst of the pandemic was over in Serbia. As it turned out, four players at the Adria Tour - Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki, along with Djokovic himself - tested positive, resulting in the cancellation of the exhibition tournament.

pic.twitter.com/vR18zKhtL8

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 23, 2020

The former tennis player expressed dismay at the packed stands during the Adria Tour where there was little indication of the fact that the world was in the midst of a pandemic. Linesmen, ballkids, handshakes, selfies and even a shirtless player party made for a 'horrifying' sight, according to Carillo.

"The stands were packed. There were linespeople, there were ballkids, there was hugging. There was handshaking at the net. There were selfies taken. There was a player party afterwards where you saw Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who was the first to be noted as having the virus... They were dancing without shirts. It was horrifying to watch. It's all over the internet if you really want to see it, but you don't wan't to see it."

Novak Djokovic has been making unforced errors ever since his unbeaten start to the year: Mary Carillo

Novak Djokovic won his second title of the 2020 season in Dubai to go 18-0 for the year.

Mary Carillo said that Novak Djokovic is a strong-minded person but is very rigid in his beliefs - which led him to organize the Adria Tour without restrictions despite common sense suggesting otherwise.

Mary Carillo: Athletes like Djokovic think 'science is just another opinion' https://t.co/zRVDnmL8ju via @msnbc The narrative on @rogerfederer was false, he was out injured until 2021 regardless of virus.

— Michael Walker (@bjorn6) June 25, 2020

Carillo said that since making an unbeaten start to the season, Novak Djokovic has been making 'unforced errors'. She alluding to the Serb's bizarre views on vaccination and science that came to light during the lockdown, culminating with the Adria Tour disaster.

"Here is a guy, Novak Djokovic, who was undefeated for the first couple of months of the year. And he has done nothing but make unforced errors since. He is a bright guy but he has his own beliefs, and he is firm in them. He does not believe in the sanctity of science."

"He is one of so many people in this world, and especially in our country it seems who just think that science is just another opinion. And that scares the hell out of me. Because now you are going to bring sports teams in. Who knows how well they are following the protocols," concluded Carillo.