The Roland Garros has upped its social media game to talk about certain happenings. In its recent post, it made an illustration featuring Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek. It got creative in showing that both the players are the defending champions, winning the 3rd French Open titles of their careers respectively in 2023, which is a co-incidence.
So the French Open not only wished its fans a Happy New Year 2024 but also highlighted 4 and 24. It is also interesting to note that Novak Djokovic has 24 Grand Slams to his name currently. The most surprising part of the post is that the French Open social media team did not utilise the most decorated player of all-time in the tournament, Rafael Nadal to wish their fans on a special occasion.
In their previous post, the French Open did pay tribute to Rafael Nadal on the verge of his comeback. However, few fans were delighted at the fact that the Spaniard lost out to Novak Djokovic in this regard. The Serb was called ‘Real King’ by one X user while others loved the illustration and felt that Djokovic has got his due from a Grand Slam.
Many accuse the ATP and Grand Slams for being biased against Novak Djokovic. However, this post has dispelled this myth. In fact, many believe that Iga Swiatek is the perfect candidate for the post since she has dominated Roland Garros singlehandedly over the years in the women’s category.
Did Rafael Nadal again antagonise Novak Djokovic fans?
Rafael Nadal recently in an interview with El Pais claimed that Novak Djokovic did not really have to improve on his game since it was only his fitness which was a major concern at the start of his career. On the other hand, Nadal also believes that his rivalry with Roger Federer will always be more celebrated than the one he has with Novak Djokovic due to their contrasting styles of play. Additionally, the Spaniard also said that he is more impressed with Roger Federer as a player than Novak Djokovic since Federer is an ’emotion’.
These comments have once again made many believe that Rafael Nadal has again deliberately targeted Novak Djokovic due to perhaps having personal differences with him. A few months ago, Nadal had also suggested that Djokovic would be the one more frustrated than him had he not achieved the all-time Grand Slams record, indicating that the Serb plays only for wins, big titles and records. On the other hand, Djokovic refuted Nadal’s claims to hit back and recently, also suggested that it is Nadal who aims to always be the best and won’t just play any tournament to enjoy the game but actually win it. However, Djokovic is more positive sounding about Nadal on most occasions.
The French Open post though, shows that Novak Djokovic is gaining wider acceptance. And fans would surely want another Nadal vs Djokovic match at the tournament this year. The last time these two clashed was at the 2022 edition, in which Nadal beat Djokovic in the quarterfinals en route to winning his 22nd Grand Slam title.
