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Novak Djokovic will ‘struggle to restore the confidence of some players’ in him, says Milos Raonic


Milos Raonic has defended Novak Djokovic over the Adria Tour coronavirus outbreak, but admits it has done damage to him in his role as head of the ATP Player Council.

Djokovic was one of several players who tested positive for coronavirus on the Adria Tour, which he arranged, amid a total lack of social distancing safeguarding.

The criticism of the world number one has been fierce, but Raonic has urged people to resist the urge to judge.

“I think he has resolved many issues in a positive manner since he took office, but in terms of the turn of recent events, it will take a little time to restore the confidence of some players”, Raonic said of Djokovic’s ATP Player Council role.

“It’s a shame that Novak receives so many negative responses when he wanted to do this tour with good intentions.

“The only thing that bothered me a bit was when I heard comments from his family that suggested that what is happening is the fault of [Grigor] Dimitrov. I find it all unfair.”

Raonic revealed he had been invited to play on the Adria Tour due to his Croatian roots, but opted to decline.

“I have never played in front of my grandmother and aunts and uncles, so I considered it,” he explained.

“If the US Open was going to happen, I did not foresee myself travelling to Europe and back. I felt like that was an unnecessary risk.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.