The sports of Tennis, like many others, have been deeply impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. The US Open, French Open and Wimbledon, along with various other tournaments, have all been affected.
In theory, official tournaments are set to return in August. But there have been exhibition competitions underway in the meantime. A number of high-profile players have participated. Including Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
Dimitrov has contracted the novel coronavirus
On Sunday, Grigor Dimitrov announced over social media that he has COVID-19. He'd been in Serbia, playing in an exhibition tournament put together by Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic is a native of the country. Eurosport reports that he'd left Serbia, returning to his home in Monaco after starting to feel sick.
There hasn't been word on where Dimitrov might have contracted the novel Coronavirus. But according to his social media post, he is now recovering. When play was suspended earlier this year, Dimitrov was the third-ranked male player in the world.
Dimitrov's highest rank thus far has been third. That came in 2017. It happened after Dimitrov qualified for and won that year's ATP Finals. In the final, he emerged victorious over David Goffin of Belgium. So far, 2017 has been Dimitrov's best year of top-level tennis. He also won that year's Western & Southern Open, a Masters 1000 tournament.
He faced Australia's Nick Kyrgios in the final round. Together, the 2017 ATP Finals and Western & Southern Open are the biggest championships of Dimitrov's career to date.
Also in 2017, Dimitrov reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open. He fell in that round to Rafael Nadal, who lost in the final to Roger Federer. Natives of Spain and Switzerland, respectively.
In addition to that year's Australian Open, Dimitrov has reached a Grand Slam on two other occasions. Those being Wimbledon in 2014 and the US Open in 2019.
As a junior player, his biggest year came in 2008. He won the junior Wimbledon title over Finland's Henri Kontinen in the championship round. Kontinen has since become a two-time Grand Slam champion and number one-ranked player in doubles tennis.
Dimitrov then followed up his success at Wimbledon by winning the junior title at the US Open.
The tournament finale has been canceled because of the case
The final match of the exhibition tournament will not move forward following the confirmed case of COVID-19. According to USA Today, the match was to be between Djokovic and Andrey Rublev of Russia.
Dimitrov had been exposed to various other players recently. Including Djokovic, who he was seen playing basketball with. He was also seen hugging Marin Cilic, the 2017 US Open Champion, and Alexander Zverev. Zverev is currently the seventh-ranked male player in the world.
