Serbia: World tennis No 1 donates $48,000 to stem virus

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - World number 1 in men's tennis, Serbia's Novak Djokovic, donated 5 million Serbian dinars ($48,000) on Wednesday to help a town in the country's southwest to fight the novel coronavirus.

Djokovic, through his Novak Djokovic Foundation, donated nearly $50,000 to a hospital in the Serbian town of Novi Pazar, where there had been a spate of COVID-19 cases.

He announced in late June that he was asymptomatic and that his wife had also tested positive for the virus.

Novi Pazar, a southwestern Bosniak city, became a coronavirus hotbed in Serbia after the government eased strict pandemic measures that had been in force in the country since mid-March, including a curfew.

Earlier, the Djokovic family donated over $1million for the purchase of ventilators and medical equipment to support hospitals and other healthcare institutions in their fight against the coronavirus in Serbia.

Currently ranked number 1 in men's single tennis, Djokovic, 33, won 17 Grand Slam singles titles during his career.

Serbia to date has reported 14,836 coronavirus cases and 281 deaths.