For once, Nick Kyrgios was a master of subtlety. There wasn’t a ‘Whoah momma!’, or even a ‘Whoa nooooo’. Instead, he set forth a restrained, understated ‘Oh boy’ to the news that Novak Djokovic, perhaps his favourite off-court speed ball, had tested positive to COVID-19.
Kyrgios wasn’t surprised, because nobody was surprised. Djokovic’s test result seemed like the crowning achievement of a moronic week at the hastily organised Adria Tour in the Balkans, which has left a trail of top players, some coaches and very likely fans infected. It also left his already strained reputation as a leader of the sport in freefall.
There had been regular hugging, back slapping, interactions with fans like it was the heady days of 2019 and, in between a few matches, frat boy nightclub scenes with players doing the limbo and dancing the night away like the pandemic could be waved away like cigarette smoke outside the front door.
Were they all immune? They were rich, bored and sick of isolation measures, so the logic says yes. Sadly, all the gratitude-infused health water in the Adriatic Sea wasn’t enough to prevent a cluster of transmissions that have deeply embarrassed the world No.1 and others, like Grigor Dimitrov, who soaked up the carefree atmosphere and virus particles.