World No 3 Dominic Thiem has admitted that players who took part in the ill-fated Adria Tour made "a mistake" after Novak Djokovic and three other participants contracted coronavirus.
Thiem took part in the Belgrade leg of the exhibition event organised by Djokovic where social distancing was minimal and matches were played in front of thousands of fans.
The Serbian world No 1, Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki all tested positive for Covid-19 after an event where players embraced across the net, played basketball, and host kids' clinics.
Djokovic also organised nights out in Belgrade for the players and videos of him dancing with the other participants were posted on social media.
Thiem, who left for an exhibition tournament in France after Belgrade, says he has tested negative five times since leaving the Balkans.
"I was shocked when I got the news from the Adria Tour," he wrote on social media in his first public reaction since the tournament was cancelled on Sunday.
"We played without any audience for weeks, so we have been more than happy about the fans at the event. We trusted the Serbian government's coronavirus rules, but we have been too optimistic.
"Our behaviour was a mistake, we acted too euphorically. I am extremely sorry. I've been tested five times in the past 10 days and each time and the result was always negative."
Djokovic, 33, has come in for heavy criticism over the debacle, saying on Tuesday that he was "so deeply sorry" that the tournament "caused harm". His wife Jelena has also tested positive.
Australian player Nick Kyrgios described the call to go ahead with the tournament as "boneheaded", while former world No 1 Andy Murray said the event had not "been a great look for tennis".
The affair has raised concern over the planned restart of professional tennis in August, including the US Open which is scheduled to begin on August 31.
Rafael Nadal's record at the MWTC
2009 Finalist
2010 Champion
Jan 2011 Champion
Dec 2011 Semi-finalist
Dec 2012 Did not play
Dec 2013 Semi-finalist
2015 Semi-finalist
Jan 2016 Champion
Dec 2016 Champion
2017 Did not play
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Squad rules
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