Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev send inspiring message to COVID-19 workers

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten and World No. 59 Jeremy Chardy featured in a Lacoste video on Thursday, dedicated to the front-line workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The retail giant also launched an exclusive polo shirt - the L12.12 Merci Polo - with a red heart embroidered around its emblem (a crocodile).

The purpose of the initiative is to show solidarity with the countless volunteers working tirelessly to save people's lives during this unprecedented crisis. Lacoste has even promised to donate all the sales from the shirt to their partner associations, including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Novak Djokovic wearing Lacoste apparel

In the heart-warming video, the renowned athletes paid rich tribute to all the front-line workers who are putting their lives at stake on a daily basis. The message celebrates the bravery and tenacity of the volunteers for their selfless work.

"We want to celebrate the ones who dared, the ones who took care of others, the tenacious ones who were on the first line and played as one team - the volunteers," the video said.

Novak Djokovic, who has been endorsing Lacoste since 2017, expressed his gratitude separately through a social media post on his Instagram account, where he shared the video.

"Merci ❤️ In honor of volunteers on the front line, @lacoste is donating the entire sales from the L12.12 Merci Polo to partners including the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world. 🙏🏼 Thank you @tguibert70 @lacoste," wrote the Serb.

This is not the first initiative undertaken by the 85-year-old company to support the medical personnel grappling with the coronavirus outbreak. At the beginning of this month, the team produced 2,00,000 masks to help the healthcare workers.

Novak Djokovic has made generous donations to fight the pandemic

Novak and Jelena Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has been generously contributing on an individual level too, to help the worst-hit areas tide over the crisis. In March, Djokovic and his wife Jelena donated €1 million to Serbian hospitals through the Novak Djokovic Foundation for purchasing ventilators and other necessary medical equipment.

“It is important to remain united in this fight, to help each other, so we can defeat this virus faster and easier. We would like to use this opportunity to invite everyone else to join us and help numerous families and people who need help to survive and get healthy again," the eight-time Australian Open winner had said.

Last month the Novak Djokovic Foundation started delivering equipment to healthcare institutions. The first batch, consisting of 4 ventilators and 20 patient monitoring devices, was sent to the Clinical Centre in Kragujevac.

More valuable was later dispatched to the Belgrade Clinic for Infectious Diseases and the Pulmonology Clinic of the Clinical Centre of Serbia (KCS), apart from Clinical Centre in Kosovska Mitrovica.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion donated another huge sum to the Bergamo region in Italy - a country Djokovic calls his second home. The gesture prompted the Director General of the local health authority in Bergamo, Peter Assembergs, to publicly hail the Serb's kindness.

"We never expected to see on our bank account a donation from such a prestigious person. Reading among the donators the name of the best tennis player in the world made me emotional," Assembergs had said.