The agent of Grigor Dimitrov has confirmed that the tennis star only found out that he contracted COVID-19 after undergoing a series of general tests in Monaco.
Georgi Stoimenov has shed some details on the condition of the former top 10 player. Dimitrov confirmed on Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19, which resulted in the final of the Adria Tour being cancelled which he was participating in before withdrawing the day prior. Since then, it has been confirmed that Borna Coric has also tested positive, as well as two coaches. All those people attended the event in Croatia. Meanwhile, Vikor Troicki has also tested positive, but he only played in the first leg of the event in Belgrade just over a week ago.
“Grigor is fine. He is recovering gradually. Yesterday he no longer has any of the symptoms he had before. He felt a little tired, but over time he got better,” Stoimenov told Bulgarian TV channel BTV.
“When he returned to Monaco he did not feel well and had full tests. He didn’t actually have any specialized tests for COVID-19, he had full tests on his whole body, and then of course it said he had the virus.’
“They did a lung scan and then, to our delight, they were absolutely clean,” he added.
There has been huge fallout over the positive tests with many criticising the Adria Tour over their lack of measures to address the threat posed by the pandemic. Throughout the Belgrade and Zadar events, players were able to interact closely with members of the public, attend meals or parties together and sat next to each other during press conferences. Organisers insisted that they followed all rules in relation to what the local health authorities advised them. However, founder Novak Djokovic has so far not commented on the incident.
Stoimenov declined to speculate on where the outbreak might have occurred or who Dimitrov might have caught it from. Although it admits that things could have been done better at the event. Blaming both the excitement of the players and organisation of the Adria Tour.
“We tried to analyse things – who, how and where it may have come from, but it’s hard work and leads to nowhere. Everyone tried to observe them, but the emotion that accompanied the players related to the fact that they hadn’t seen each other for 3-4 months,” he said.
“Everyone felt quite liberated, maybe that made them cross some boundaries. As for the public – you know the stadium was for 4000 people and it was full. There were an awful lot of supporters who took pictures with each of them and followed them in the places where it was allowed. Was it observed? Conditionally. But obviously emotion prevails over the existing rules in Serbia.”
Fortunately Dimitrov is expected to make a full recovery but will still be placed in self-isolation for a set amount of days. His agent admits that he is concerned over the diagnoses given how deadly it can be.
“There are severe cases of this virus developing. It’s a concern for anyone who has it. Grigor spent a little over 3 months in isolation and it’s an ideal environment for good sports training. This virus currently blackened those 3 months, because what has been accumulated has accumulated and it remains, but this two-week period, in which he will not be able to train, will disrupt his sports rhythm,” Stoimenov concluded.
