Djokovic to host tennis tour in Balkan countries, Thiem, Dimitrov sign up

Belgrade, May 23 (IANS): Tennis world no.1 Novak Djokovic announced that he is hosting a tennis tournament across the Balkan countries starting on June 13. The ‘Adria Tour’ will start in Belgrade in Djokovic’s home country of Serbia.

“I’m proud to officially share the news that the #AdriaTour will be held across the Balkans 13 June – 5 July kicking off with a tournament in Belgrade. Very grateful and excited we could make this happen to play and support humanitarian projects across the region. See you guys on court soon,” said Djokovic on a tweet on Saturday.

The tour starts on June 13 and 14 in Belgrade followed by matches in Zadar, Croatia on June 20 and 21. This will be followed by matches in Montenegro on June 27 and 28 and the tour ends in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 3 and 4.

Austrian world no.3 Dominic Thiem and Bulgarian world no.19 Grigor Dimitrov have thus far confirmed their participation.

All pro tennis matches have been suspended since early March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier, Djokovic shared a video of himself practising on a clay court and his social media post read: “So happy to play on clay … well, just for a bit with my phone in the hands. I don’t recommend this to any 18-year-old.”

This led to the club hosting Djokovic in Marbella, Spain, where Djokovic was training to apologise as Spanish tennis federation had at the time asked players to refrain from training on courts.