Novak Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked male tennis player, said on Tuesday that he and his wife, Jelena, had tested positive for the coronavirus, after days of growing criticism over a tournament he organised after which other players were also found to be infected.

The exhibition tournament, called the Adria Tour, was supposed to bring some of the world’s best players to Croatia and Serbia, where Djokovic is from, and provide some welcome entertainment to tennis fans who haven’t seen professional games since March.

No one wore face masks and social distancing wasn’t enforced in the stands during the series. Besides Djokovic, at least three players and two coaches have tested positive, prompting fears among the authorities in Croatia and Serbia that the athletes may have triggered a new wave of infections.

In Zadar, a small coastal town on the Adriatic Sea in Croatia that had no confirmed infections until it hosted a leg of the competition, the authorities were left scrambling to trace and test people who might have come in contact with the Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov, who said on Sunday that he had tested positive.

Djokovic returned to Belgrade, the Serbian capital, after the tournament’s final on Sunday was called off. He caused a stir in April after he suggested that he would rather not be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The Serbian player has said he is confused about the pandemic and wanted to know what’s best for his body, while keeping an open mind.

“Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions,” Djokovic said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with.”

Several top players have criticised Djokovic’s decision to organise the tournament without any safety and hygiene measures enforced. “Apparently there’s a pandemic,” Andy Roddick wrote on Twitter.

“That’s what happens when you disregard all protocols. This IS NOT A JOKE,” wrote the Australian player Nicholas Kyrgios, as he reacted to a tweet by a Croatian player, Borna Coric, announcing that he had tested positive.

Britain’s Andy Murray voiced alarm: “I have always had a good relationship with Novak. But what’s happened is not a good look. When you are going through a time like this, it’s important any of the top athletes around the world should be showing that we are taking this extremely seriously and knowing that we are using social-distancing measures and whatever it is.

“I hope that we learn from it because, ultimately, the tour won’t get back again if we are having problems every single week and the players are doing what they want. We need to make sure we are doing the right thing.”

Besides Coric and Dimitrov, Djokovic’s fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki and his pregnant wife have tested positive.

“The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested,” the 33-year-old Djokovic said in the statement, adding that he was not showing any symptoms. “My result is positive, just as Jelena’s (wife), while the results of our children are negative.

“I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope that it will not complicate anyone’s health situation and that everyone will be fine. I will remain in self-isolation for the next 14 days, and repeat the test in five days.”

The tournament witnessed packed stands during the opening leg in Belgrade, players hugging at the net or high-fiving with abandon, playing contact sport such as football or basketball in between matches, posing for pictures and attending news conferences together.

Djokovic organised nights out in Belgrade for the players and pictures and videos of him dancing with the other participants at his event were posted on social media.

With both Serbia and Croatia easing lockdown measures weeks before the event, players were not obliged to observe social distancing rules in either country.

The professional tennis tour has been shut down since March and will not resume until August at the earliest. NYTNS