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Ilie Nastase launches scathing attack on ‘disrespectful’ Novak Djokovic, branding his Adria Tour ‘useless’


Former word number one Ilie Nastase has launched a scathing attack on Novak Djokovic over the Adria Tour.

A spate of positive coronavirus test results, one from Djokovic himself, saw the Tour cancelled, but only after criticisms surrounding packed out stadiums and players partying together.

The reaction from within tennis has been mixed, but Nastase isn’t sitting on the fence when it comes to his criticisms of Djokovic.

ā€œHe knew that it was a risk since there were so many spectators there,” Nastase told the Romanian media.

“When [Djokovic believes] everyone else in the world is crazy and he is smart, this is what happens.

“I do not wish for anyone to get hurt, but if you take such a decision you have to own it.

Nastase wasn’t finished there, accusing Djokivic of bypassing social distancing restrictions to keep the costs to himself down in the tournament, an allegation which seems unfair given it was a charity event.

ā€If everyone abides by the rules and it is true what everyone says ā€“ that the virus is very dangerous ā€“ then we have to respect them (the rules). But if you donā€™t want to respect, then you need to pay.

“Why did Djokovic need this tournament? He hadnā€™t had enough money? He couldnā€™t play alone with another boy?

“This tournament was useless, especially as it wasnā€™t something official.”


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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.