Novak Djokovic’s donation to hospitals in northern Italy to help fight Coronavirus left officials grateful that the world’s No.1 tennis player would think of them in a time of need. Even more surprising is the fact that Djokovic, who has also donated significant funds to his home country of Serbia and to his friend and rival Rafael Nadal’s cause in Spain during the crisis, did not want any credit for it.
"I was struck – concluded Peter Assembergs, director general of the local health authority in Bergamo. “The No. 1 ATP said 'I don't care if you know it, unless it can be used to sensitize other potential donors to imitate me.’”
Djokovic has also been thinking about his less fortunate ATP counterparts. On Friday tennis insider Jon Wertheim posted a screen shot of an internal discussion that Djokovic was leading amongst the ATP players. It called for donations from top players in order to provide what could amount to over $4 million for players ranked outside of the Top 100. The plan calls for donations from players, scaled by ranking, and a match contribution from each Grand Slam and the ATP tour itself.
The exact details of the aid plan are not concrete, but it is nevertheless impressive to see the World No.1 spearheading a charitable initiative towards his mates on tour.