Female tennis players' brutal stab at male virus victims

Eugenie Bouchard and Andrea Petkovic have appeared to take a not-so-subtle dig at the virus dramas in men’s tennis.

Novak Djokovic and his male colleagues have been widely condemned over the last two weeks over the shocking events that took place at the Adria Tour.

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Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki - as well as Djokovic and Troicki’s wives - all tested positive for coronavirus after participating in the ill-fated event.

Spectators packed into the stands with a stark lack of social-distancing, while players didn’t wear masks and hugged and shook hands with fellow players and officials.

In complete contrast, 16 female stars took part in the Credit One Bank Invitational in Charleston over the weekend and showed their male counterparts how it’s done.

Fans were banned from attending, while players and officials kept an appropriate distance from each other while wearing masks where possible.

“The fact we could play tennis in a healthy and safe environment is a win in itself,” Bouchard wrote on Twitter afterwards.

If that wasn’t enough of a burn for the men’s tour, Petkovic went one step further.

“So far, from what I can gather, female tennis players have conducted themselves in an admirable manner in these trying times of crisis, amirite,” the German wrote.

Aussie great Rennae Stubbs pointed out that there have been no coronavirus cases from the women’s event.

“I believe NONE of them got it. Might have to do with not playing sweaty basketball or soccer together,” Stubbs tweeted.

“Let’s hope it stays that way.”

Djokovic and his fellow Adria Tour participants shocked onlookers by playing basketball together and visiting packed nightclubs in their downtime.

Djokovic’s coach becomes latest virus victim

On Saturday Djokovic's coach, former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, confirmed also tested positive for coronavirus.

The Croatian, who triumphed at the All England Club in 2001, had come out in defence of the Serbian over his organisation of the ill-fated Adria Tour.

Ivanisevic defended Djokovic, who has also since tested positive, telling the New York Times everyone attacking the 33-year-old was “smart now” but that the event had been given government approval.

Now the 48-year-old coach has tested positive too, confirming the news on Instagram.

Ivanisevic wrote: “Unfortunately after two negative tests in the last 10 days, I have just found out I have tested positive for COVID-19. I feel good and don't have any symptoms.”

The event, which took place in front of crowds with little evidence of social-distancing, was criticised by other players.

Australian Nick Kyrgios called the decision to stage the event “boneheaded” while British No.1 Dan Evans described it as “a poor example to set”.

with AAP