Several exhibition events have been cropping up here and there in recent weeks, giving the Tennis Channel at least something with which to appease fans during the coronavirus hiatus. Those were all well and good, but the next exhibition could be the biggest and best of all while tennis fans wait for the real tours to return.
The Adria Tour, put on by the Novak Djokovic Foundation, will begin in Belgrade from Friday through Sunday. Participating players include Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Borna Coric, Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, and Viktor Troicki.
Thanks to the star-studded field and because of the fact that sports fans are starved to attend live action, tickets for this event flew off the market at an impressive rate. When all 1,000 tickets that were initially available sold in a mere seven minutes, 1,000 more were put on the market. Tour officials have assured that proper safety procedures–including social distancing of six feet between spectators–will be utilized throughout the weekend.
“I was overjoyed to see that the first set of 1,000 tickets sold out in just seven minutes, and that there was so much demand for tickets,” said Djokovic. “Because of all this, we are seriously considering whether we can add two or three thousand more seats at the stadium in order to provide an opportunity for more people to be able to come to the stadium.
“On the other hand, we will have a tournament village in TC Novak. For all those who do not get tickets, they will be able to enter the complex for free, enjoy the music program, watch matches via video beam, and feel part of the atmosphere.”
Following the festivities in Belgrade, the Adria Tour will make stops in Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia between now and July 5. According to Goran Ivanisevic, who is part of Djokovic’s coaching team, up to 4,500 fans are expected to attend in Croatia.
In other exhibition tournament news, Patrick Mouratoglou is hosting the Ultimate Tennis Showdown later this month in France. Among the participants are Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, David Goffin, and Matteo Berrettini.
could be fun
Finally, and it seems to be a great draw….assume TC will cover it…I hope!