Spanish club apologises after Djokovic training day mix-up

Marbella, May 6 (IANS): Puente Romano tennis club in Marbella issued a clarification after Novak Djokovic shared a video practising at their court on Tuesday. In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, Spanish tennis federation had asked players to refrain from training on courts till May 11 in order to follow social distancing norms of the government.

“We understood that professional athletes were able to train and authorised Djokovic to use our facilities. After speaking with the tennis federation they made it clear to us he had to wait until 11 May to use the tennis club,” Puente Romano club said in a statement.

“We shared this clarification with Djokovic and both parties have agreed to restart training from that day. We regret that our misinterpretation of the rules may have inconvenienced Djokovic in good faith.”

Djokovic had earlier 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.”

The entire sporting calendar of the world is reeling due to Covid-19 pandemic and tennis is not different. The season has been put on hold with multiple tournaments being postponed or cancelled.

The second Slam of the year, French Open, has been postponed from May to September while the Wimbledon was cancelled in the wake of ongoing crisis. Wimbledon had only been cancelled twice before, because of World War 1 and World War 2.