Djokovic breaks down in tears after hosting Belgrade exhibition

Novak Djokovic gets emotional at the end of the first leg of the Adria Tour which was won by Dominic Thiem.

SHOWS: BELGRADE, SERBIA (JUNE 14, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND DOMINIC THIEM ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE TO APPLAUSE FOLLOWING MATCH 2.

MEDIA TAKING PICTURES 3.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DOMINIC THIEM, SAYING: "I mean, it's always, of course, nice to win a trophy, but that was not the main cause for me to come here.

I mean, it's great that it ended up like that, but first of all - I had a really great time here, I had an amazing weekend." 4.

VIEW OF TROPHY STANDING ON TABLE, READING IN ENGLISH: ADRIA TOUR, WINNER, BELGRADE 5.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DOMINIC THIEM, SAYING: "But I mean that this fast-four format keeps the matches close - one little mistake here and there and you already lost the set, but I'm happy with the level I played.

So, I'm full in practice since quite a while.

I already played 7 matches in Austria, but I also have to say it's something very different with the big crowds, you are a little bit more tight, you wanna play better obviously because you are not playing only for yourself but also for them.

You want to give them a good show, so I'm super happy that I won all my matches": 6.

THIEM SEEN IN A CAMERA VIEW FINDER AS NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS 7.

(SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SAYING: "What the situation is going to look like now after the coronavirus, in our calendar, we do not know.

We don't know when the season is going to resume.

We're all doing our best so that it be at the U.S. Open already, on hard court; however, it is difficult because the situation is different everywhere.

Simply, each country, each part of the world treats corona (virus) differently.

Everyone has different figures, different measure.

I hope everything will get back to normal soon, and then we'll see.

It is definitely our big wish to bring the tournament, yes".

8.

NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS, MEDIA TAKING PICTURES 9.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, SAYING: "I tried to be conscious of my upbringing and my childhood and how it all started for me.

So, I tried to keep the people who gave so much to me, you know - in time, energy and effort, into, you know, developing me to the player and the person I am - I try to be close to them, and this tennis club here is an epicentre so to say of the people getting together from my childhood days and from the players that I used to play with and my former coaches, and national captains, you know, couple of national captains were here." 10.

NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS/MEDIA TAKING PICTURES 11.

DOMINIC THIEM HOLDING WINNER'S TROPHY, ARMS LINKED WITH DJOKOVIC, POSING FOR PHOTOS 12.

DOMINIC THIEM AND NOVAK DJOKOVIC LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE TABLE FOLLOWED BY APPLAUSE STORY: An emotional Novak Djokovic could not hold back the tears while hosting a charity event at his tennis complex by the Danube River on Sunday (June 14).

Although the world number one missed out on Sunday's Adria Tour final, in which Dominic Thiem beat Serbian Filip Krajinovic 4-3 2-4 4-2, the event revived a lot of fond memories for the 17-time Grand Slam champion who staged the exhibition while international tennis remains suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Djokovic beat Germany's Alexander Zverev on Sunday in his last round robin match but failed to secure his place in the final after both players and Krajinovic ended up with 2-1 win-loss records and an identical 5-3 set difference in their section.

Krajinovic, who stunned Djokovic on Saturday (June 13), squeezed through on the basis of having the best games differential among the three.

However, he was powerless to stop Thiem in the final.

The eight-man tournament featured a more streamlined format than what is seen on the main tour, with sets slashed to best-of-seven games.

The second leg of the tour will be held in Croatia's coastal resort Zadar next weekend.

The third leg due in Montenegro on June 27 and 28 was scrapped on Saturday over coronavirus concerns and the final leg is set for Bosnia's Banja Luka on July 3 and 4.