In the home page of Serbia's response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the country's ministry of health has put out eight measures 'to protect your health'.
Signed off by Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia, two points immediately catch the eye: a) avoid hugging, cheek-kissing or shaking hands with others; and keep the recommended distance of at least one meter between yourself and others and b) use a face mask to cover your mouth and nose when staying indoors.
It's fair to say the Adria Tour, a series of exhibition tennis matches organised by World No 1 Novak Djokovic, did not follow these guidelines.
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In the last week of May, the 17-time Major winner got back to Belgrade after spending two months in lockdown in the Spanish resort of Marbella. Immediately after arriving in Belgrade, he announced to the world his intention of organising a tournament across four Balkan countries (Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia) in June and July.
"Unlike many other players, I was able to train almost every day because we resided in a house with a tennis court," he said in that press conference. "I refrained from posting clips on social networks because I didn't want to infuriate other players. I am fit and in good shape, so I am looking forward to the Adria Tour, which I am organising.
"I am delighted that Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov and Alexander Zverev will be my guests here in my hometown. This is the first time any of them will be playing here and I will do everything in my power to be a good host."
But his reputation had already taken a hammering. Since different parts of the world began to go into a phased lockdown from February, Djokovic had shown resistance to use a vaccine for the coronavirus, used his platform to give credence to 'snake oil salesmen' like The Guardian noted and violated Spain's lockdown rules by training at a tennis club in Marbella. Earlier this month, he also went on record to say he may skip the US Open because of the 'extreme' coronavirus-related restrictions.
In one of the most surreal Instagram live chats with Chervin Jafarieh, 'a real-estate broker turned wellness entrepreneur who was promoting an expensive herbal treatment called 'Cymbiotika', according to tennis.com, the World No 1's belief system was laid out front and centre. "Scientists have proven that molecules in the water react to our emotions," and "through the power of prayer, through the power of gratitude, (people) manage to turn the most toxic food or the most polluted water into the most healing water."
It was as if one of the greatest players the sport had seen had transformed himself to Donald Trump overnight.
The irony in all of this is that Djokovic had realised the gravity of the situation quicker than most tennis players when the pandemic began in March. Apart from making generous donations to health care systems in Spain, Italy and Serbia, he was the public face of a fund raised by the top 100 men's players (it's not yet taken off) to ensure the players lower in the food chain do not suffer as a result of a loss of competition, prize money and earning potential.
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It was in this backdrop that he announced the Adria Tour in the end of May. His intention to restart tennis obviously came from a good place. And to be fair, the Balkan region did not have as many confirmed cases as the rest of Europe.
By the end of May, new infections were down to double digits in Serbia, Croatia had a maximum of only one new case every day from May 23 to June 10, Bosnia's daily new cases never rose above 150 at any point and Montenegro became one of Europe's first coronavirus free countries before seeing a sudden increase over the last two weeks.
Combine that and Djokovic's burning desire to bring tennis to a region that's historically had world class players (starting from Goran Ivanisevic to Jelena Jankovic to Ana Ivanovic to Marin Colic to Djokovic himself) but a lack of quality international events, one could understand where he was coming from.
He in fact alluded to that very point in a photo he posted a day before the Tour's first leg in Belgrade on June 13. Posing with Zverev and Thiem, he wrote: "Grateful to welcome my friends to my city. Feels good to have an opportunity to show them where I come from, the beauty of this place and our people."
At the culmination of the Belgrade leg, Djokovic was so overcome by emotion, he could not help but cry. "I was very emotional on the court today. Childhood memories started flooding back, including those of growing up on these courts and playing here as a young boy. I was overwhelmed and those were tears of joy after the match. I try to give back to where I come from and be conscious of my childhood and my upbringing. This tennis was an epicentre of people from my childhood days getting together for this tournament, including my former coaches. They were all here."
Away from the court though, the alarm bells had started to ring already. The matches were played to packed houses with no social distancing measures, in violation of the Serbian government's rules. Players hugged each other. It was as if they collectively decided that they were immune from the pandemic that had already infected millions around the world.
By this time, the Montenegro leg had already been cancelled because citizens of Serbia were not permitted to cross the border. That was a warning sign that the virus was still out there but the players failed to heed that warning.
Incredibly still, Djokovic was caught dancing and partying shirtless in a Serbian night club with Thiem, Zverev, Dimitrov and others. Organising a tournament for charity during a pandemic is one thing. Revelling in a night club with fellow players during a pandemic is completely different and no amount of sanitised PR statements can make that look good.
This is why his statement on Tuesday night, after he tested positive for the virus, rankled. He did not even take responsibility for his actions. "Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions." What part of dancing in a night club was 'pure heart and sincere intentions?'
As the caravan shifted to the Croatian resort of Zadar, the true cost of the Tour hit the organisers. A clearly ill Dimitrov played and lost against Borna Coric. Rather than opting to avoid all physical contact, he proceeded to fist-bump both Coric as well as the umpire.
It was horrific watching the video but the damage had already been done. Dimitrov, without being tested in Zadar, crossed borders to reach Monaco where he tested positive. Before the Bulgarian's positive test in Monaco on June 21, the country's last positive test was on May 30. Nobody really knows how many people Dimitrov came in touch with from the time he got infected till the time he tested positive.
What is known at this point is that Dimitrov's positive test set in motion a chain of events that culminated with Djokovic's positive test in Belgrade on Tuesday.
The overall cost of the Adria Tour? At this moment, seven people (Coric, Dimitrov, Viktor Troicki, Djokovic, Dimitrov's coach, Djokovic's fitness trainer and Djokovic's wife Jelena) have returned positive tests.
In the coming days, that number could well rise as Djokovic tacitly acknowledged in a second statement. "If you attended Adria Tour or were around any attendees please get tested and practice social distancing."
If only he had practised what he preached, this whole situation could have been avoided.