Novak Djokovic, centre, poses with volunteers and players after the Adria Tour charity tournament in Belgrade. Photo / AP
Novak Djokovic, centre, poses with volunteers and players after the Adria Tour charity tournament in Belgrade. Photo / AP
Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has called out Novak Djokovic after the Serbian tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.
Djokovic revealed he had tested positive to Covid-19 after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organised in the Balkan region.
The 33-year-old has been widely criticised for organisingthe tournament and bringing in players from other countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Professional tennis stars Borna Coric, Grigor Dimitrov and Viktor Troicki also tested positive for the virus after playing in the Adria Tour, an exhibition tournament launched by Djokovic that saw events take place in Serbia and Croatia.
There were no social distancing measures observed at the matches in either country.
The mind-boggling scenes of players not taking any precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were slammed when jarring images of the tournament emerged earlier this month.
Djokovic said he would remain in self-isolation for 14 days and repeat the test in five days. He also apologised to anyone who became infected as a result of the series.
Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, rear, plays basketball with Serbia's Novak Djokovic in Zadar, Croatia. Photo / AP
After Djokovic revealed his positive result, Kyrgios called out the 17-time Grand Slam champion for recently dancing topless at a party in Belgrade.
"Prayers up to all the players that have contracted COVID-19," Kyrgios tweeted on Tuesday evening along with the telling footage.
"Don't @ me for anything I've done that has been 'irresponsible' or classified as 'stupidity' — this takes the cake."
Prayers up to all the players that have contracted Covid - 19. Don’t @ me for anything I’ve done that has been ‘irresponsible’ or classified as ‘stupidity’ - this takes the cake. https://t.co/lVligELgID
Just over 24 hours earlier, Kyrgios had slammed the "boneheaded" call to organise the Adria Tour after Coric confirmed he had tested positive.
"Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the 'exhibition' speedy recovery fellas, but that's what happens when you disregard all protocols," Kyrgios tweeted on Monday.
"This IS NOT A JOKE."
🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️ Boneheaded decision to go ahead with the ‘exhibition’ speedy recovery fellas, but that’s what happens when you disregard all protocols. This IS NOT A JOKE. https://t.co/SUdxfijkbK
Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray conceded the lack of social distancing at Djokovic's tournament was "not a good look".
"When you are going through a time like this it's important any of the top athletes around the world should be showing that we are taking this extremely seriously and knowing that we are using social distancing measures and whatever it is," Murray said.
"I hope that we learn from it and off the back of it they will be taking it extremely seriously because ultimately the tour won't get back again if we are having problems every single week and the players are doing what they want. We need to make sure we are doing the right thing."
Former Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka also couldn't resist poking fun at Djokovic following Tuesday's announcement.
