MUMBAI - French Open organisers are taking every precaution to ensure the Grand Slam does not meet the same fate as Novak Djokovic's Adria Tour, which was abandoned after several players tested positive for COVID-19, tournament director Guy Forget has told Reuters.
Djokovic has come under fire after the charity event was played in front of packed crowds in Serbia and Croatia and saw players hugging at the net and posing for pictures together.
Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki have all tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The French Open will allow up to 60% of the usual capacity inside the Roland Garros grounds when the rescheduled claycourt tournament starts on Sept. 27 and Forget said there was no chance of them repeating the mistakes of the Adria Tour.
"Maybe some people were overconfident there," Forget said by telephone.
"Luckily no one got hurt really bad but even a few cases is too much and we want to avoid that as much as we can.
"We want to reassure everyone that having people getting ill will be terrible for us. Let's be really careful, really cautious."
France began easing restrictions in May but has been reporting over 500 cases daily in recent days. Protective masks will be mandatory for anyone on the move inside Roland Garros and they will be recommended for those sitting courtside.
The French Tennis Federation (FFT) expect some 20,000 spectators a day during the early stages of the two-week tournament and about 10,000 per day on the final weekend.
Forget said a successful event needed to have some kind of a crowd.
"We all see soccer on television, it's wonderful but something is missing without the crowds," the former world No. 4 said.
"We are working closely with the administration, the government, to make sure we can provide some crowd while still following very strict security measures."
MORE FLEXIBLE
The U.S. Open in New York, which is scheduled to start on Aug. 31, will have no spectators and operate under strict health protocols, including limiting the size of each player's entourage.
Forget said French Open organisers were not planning anything as strict and were even hoping to ease restrictions.
"Luckily things are a bit more flexible in Europe and in France, especially," he said. "Hopefully, what we're going to announce will probably be even more flexible than what we did."
The FFT drew heavy criticism in mid-March when it unilaterally moved the French Open to September from its scheduled May start amid the COVID-19 crisis, placing it in the middle of the hardcourt season.
Forget said he understood why some were unhappy about it but thought saving one of the most prestigious and lucrative tournaments in tennis was worth it.
"We're not going to celebrate or congratulate ourselves for the decision we took," the 55-year-old said.
"We thought it's a risk worth taking. Of course we'll make people unhappy.
"But in mid-October, if we're able to come together and we've been able to provide revenue for 600 people, I think we will be very satisfied as a federation and I as a former player."
Forget was reasonably confident the tournament would be a success but would not relax until after the men's final on Oct. 11.
"I don't want to shout 'victory' before the tournament actually happens," Forget said.
"As the tournament director I'll only be happy once the men's winner shakes the hand of the finalist.
"We will all together be able to say, we did it." (Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Nick Mulvenney and Peter Rutherford)
-reuters-
PARIS, France -- Borna Coric announced on Monday he has become the second player to test positive for coronavirus after taking part in an exhibition tournament in Croatia featuring world number one Novak Djokovic.
"Hi everyone, I wanted to inform you all that I tested positive for COVID-19," the Croatian, ranked 33rd in the world, posted on Twitter.
It follows Sunday's announcement by Grigor Dimitrov that he had also tested positive after pulling out of the exhibition event, which is one of the biggest since the tennis season was halted because of the pandemic.
Coric tweeted: "I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during the last few days gets tested!
"I am really sorry for any harm I might have caused! I'm feeling well and don't have any simptoms (sic). Please stay safe and healthy! Lots of love to all!"
One of Djokovic's coaches and another member of Dimitrov's entourage have also reportedly tested positive for the virus, according to Croatia's N1 television channel.
Coric had beaten Bulgaria's Dimitrov in the second leg of the Adria Tour in Zadar on Croatia's Adriatic coast on Saturday.
Dimitrov withdrew from the Balkans tournament following that match, complaining of feeling unwell.
Sunday's final between Djokovic and Russia's Andrey Rublev was immediately cancelled as a precaution.
Australian star Nick Kyrgios responded to Coric's tweet by describing the staging of the tournament as "boneheaded".
- 'Not a joke' -
"Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the 'exhibition'," Kyrgios wrote on social media.
"Speedy recovery fellas, but that's what happens when you disregard all protocols. This IS NOT A JOKE."
Also playing in the tournament were world number three Dominic Thiem, former US Open winner Marin Cilic, seventh-ranked Alexander Zverev and Filip Krajinovic.
Responding to Dimitrov's positive test on Sunday, Djokovic's brother Djordje, the tournament director, told Sportske Novosti: "Novak? He took this news very hard. We undertook all the measures prescribed by the governments of Serbia and Croatia."
The news of Coric's positive test emerged as Serbian football league champions Red Star Belgrade reported that five of their players had gone down with coronavirus just 12 days after their derby clash with Partizan Belgrade.
The game was watched by 16,000 fans, the largest sporting gathering seen in Europe since the continent went into lockdown in March.
The Adria Tour had been organised to fill the gap in the virus-hit tennis calendar which has been on ice since mid-March and was played out to a daily crowd of 4,000 fans at Djokovic's tennis centre on the banks of the Danube in Belgrade last week.
Dimitrov, Djokovic and Thiem, as well as the other players, were then seen partying at a packed Belgrade night spot.
Thiem has since travelled to the south of France to play in another exhibition tournament, the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Nice.
The Adria Tour had already suffered an embarrassing setback when the planned Montenegro leg of the four-nation tournament was cancelled over coronavirus protocol rules.
Montenegro was due to be the third stop on June 27-28 after Croatia and before the conclusion in Bosnia.
But organisers said the visit to Montenegro had to be called off when it became apparent Serbia's health requirements did not match up to those of Montenegro.
Commenting on social distancing measures during the Belgrade leg, Djokovic argued that both Serbia and the region had been relatively successful in containing the virus.
"Of course you can criticise, you can also say this is dangerous or not, but it's not up to me to make the calls what is health-wise right or wrong," the 17-time Grand Slam winner told reporters.
Last week, the ATP and WTA said they were restarting their tours in August.
However, the US Open in New York will be played behind closed doors and under strict health protocols which Djokovic has described as "extreme" and "impossible".
Agence France-Presse
ZADAR, Croatia -- World number one Novak Djokovic romped into the final of his own exhibition tournament after winning both opening singles at the Adria Tour in Croatia's coastal resort Zadar on Saturday.
Djokovic saved three set points in his 4-3 4-1 defeat of fellow Serb Pedja Krstin before he sank home crowd favourite Borna Coric 4-1 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex.
"I hope we gave the crowd a good show," Djokovic, who organised the event while international tennis remains suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said in a courtside interview.
"A few points here and there swung the tie my way. Many thanks to the fans who turned up and stayed late. The last few months have been difficult (because of the pandemic) and I hope you will come in numbers tomorrow too."
The two-day event on red clay in Zadar is the second leg of Djokovic's Adria Tour, with Austrian Dominic Thiem winning the first leg in Belgrade last weekend.
The third leg due in Montenegro on June 27 and 28 has been scrapped over coronavirus concerns while the final leg is to be staged in Bosnia's city Banja Luka on July 3 and 4.
The tournaments involve eight players each, divided into two pools of four on a round-robin basis. Sets have been slashed to best-of-seven games.
In Sunday's afternoon session, Djokovic faces Croatian Dino Serdarusic who replaced Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian pulled out of the tournament with sickness following his opening 4-1 4-1 loss to Coric.
But the outcome of the contest will be meaningless as Djokovic cannot be overhauled by any of his Group A rivals.
In Group B, Russian Andrey Rublev is in pole position to advance into Sunday's 1800 GMT final after wins over 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic and Serb Danilo Petrovic.
In Sunday's final round-robin match, Rublev faces Germany's world number seven Alexander Zverev who stayed in contention for a berth in the final with a 4-3 0-4 4-3 win over Cilic.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
-reuters-
BELGRADE -- World number one Novak Djokovic lost one of his two opening singles matches on Saturday at the charity tournament he organised, and his day got worse when news broke that one of the event's four legs has been scrapped due to coronavirus concerns.
Shortly after beating fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki in his opening match, Djokovic said he was disappointed that the Adria Tour's third leg in Montenegro, scheduled for June 27-28, had been called off.
"I am so sad for the Montenegro leg," he told the Balkan nation's Sport Klub television in a courtside interview in front of a capacity 4,000 crowd.
"We tried everything, but the borders are still not open and we don't have time to organise it all."
With 12,251 confirmed cases and 253 deaths related to COVID-19, Serbia is among the countries whose residents are not allowed to travel to its southern neighbour Montenegro.
Earlier on Saturday, Djokovic's younger brother Djordje and the Adria Tour director, released a statement saying the event's board had decided to scrap the Montenegro leg.
Asked at a news conference after his defeat by Filip Krajinovic whether there was an alternative host nation able to replace Montenegro in a fortnight, Djokovic said:
"We are looking at several alternative options and locations which I don't want to reveal at this point.
"We are running out of time so we will know where we stand either tomorrow or the day after."
The second leg will be held in Croatia's coastal resort of Zadar on June 20-21 and the final one in Bosnia's Banja Luka on July 3-4.
The tournament, organised by Djokovic while international tennis remains suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has drawn some household names and adopted a more streamlined format than the main tour events.
Sets have been slashed to the best of seven games, with eight players competing in two pools on a round-robin basis.
Having beaten Troicki in straight sets, Djokovic lost 4-2, 2-4, 1-4 to Krajinovic.
Second seed and Austrian world number three Dominic Thiem beat Damir Dzumhur in minutes as the Bosnian retired in the opening set with a hamstring injury, but had to save a match point in his 1-4, 4-1, 4-3 win over Dusan Lajovic.
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov beat Lajovic in three sets but was stunned 4-1, 4-3 by home crowd favourite Nikola Milojevic - drafted in to replace Dzumhur.
World number seven Alexander Zverev beat Krajinovic 0-4, 4-3, 4-3 and was playing Troicki in a late match starting after midnight local time.
The third-round pool matches will be played on Sunday afternoon followed by a final between the group winners at 1800 GMT.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Hugh Lawson)
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