Sigi's tips | The hubris of tennis stars

By Sigi Heinrich

In calm times it is not so tragic if you make mistakes or behave carelessly. Swam over it. Life goes on. In Corona times, of course, things look different and very different. Now carelessness will be punished mercilessly. Above all, those - and there will be many more - who believe that Covid-19 only affects other people now have the gloom in front of their eyes. The mirror is being held up to us in a pretty ruthless way.

The -male- tennis elite has managed to almost completely lose faith in the reason of Homo sapiens. It was honorable – perhaps – for world number one Novak Djokovic to organize the “Adriatic Tour”. It was supposed to raise money for a good cause, which is why he gathered friends to play with him. A nice thing, undoubtedly. I would like to say that in advance. But the way the tournaments were organized made it clear: Djokovic and his entourage (brother, father, coach) may know their way around tennis. As organizers, you were hopelessly overwhelmed, especially in these times.

Sigi Heinrich

Hygiene regulations, minimum distance, mask requirement. All terms that were not included in the vocabulary of the private tour. Worse still, the players mingled with the crowd and celebrated themselves like there was no tomorrow. The result is known: Djokovic himself, his wife Jelena, his coach Ivanisevic and several players from this event have now tested positive for Covid-19. Blaming below the belt To call them out now, rightly so, would be just as cheap as the accusations made by Srdjan Djokovic, Novak's father, who claimed in all seriousness that the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who was the first participant on the tour to test positive, was all to blame the disaster. According to Srdjan Djokovic, he caused extreme damage to relations between Serbia and Croatia and caused great suffering to his family.

For such a statement he would have to be banned from all tennis courts for life. This is so far below the belt that it would make any reasonably rational person blush with anger. If I were Dimitrov, I would sue him. Due to a lack of precautionary measures, this event turned out to be a “hotspot” and caused immeasurable damage to the sport of tennis.

The US Open in the USA, a country where the virus can rage at will because there are hardly any countermeasures, is now really in danger. And beyond that, all other sports operations far beyond tennis. In numbers, one cannot imagine the damage that this “Adriatic tour” has caused. The damage to the image alone has a destructive effect. Thank you guys. Well done… Party animal Alexander Zverev But fortunately you can learn from it. See Alexander Zverev, who threw himself into a party in Monte Carlo instead of the grandly announced quarantine. Incredible actually. It is the hubris of these athletes that prevents them from taking life and the dangers it poses seriously, especially today. Your whole existence is one big game. And some never grow up.

We, who love sport in all its diversity, can only appeal to the reason of those who continually offer us their talent and their artistry. Handle the situation, which is unfamiliar to all of us, sensitively. Don't put the small, new freedoms at risk as carelessly as happened recently in tennis. After all, we want to admire and enjoy your extraordinary achievements for a long time to come. Thanks.

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Sigi's tips | The hubris of tennis stars

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