Last Sunday was a coronation for Novak Djokovic, who won his 24th Grand Slam title - a men's record and an Open Era record in all of tennis.
Yet, with gaudy names from the sporting world and beyond extending their warmest congratulatory messages, it is the deafening silence from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal that has irked every fiber of Novak Djokovic's fans.
Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal have lived through a symbiotic relationship on the court, and the three of them have shaped tennis into this vibrant and modern spectacle we have today. In a sense, tennis fans feel there is some sort of camaraderie between them.
So when Djokovic won the 2023 US Open, a landmark achievement on many levels, his two greatest rivals hardly acknowledged it, neither in a tweet nor reposting the tournament's myriad of posts with Djokovic holding the trophy, at least in the public online space.
It didn't sit too well with Djokovic fans who slammed the two icons for remaining tightlipped in the aftermath of a record win. One tweet read, 'The bitterness of Federer and Nadal towards Djokovic records and achievements is so blatant and I don't understand why people just accept and acknowledge that and realize that they are just not players with amazing sportsmanship and never have been.'
Federer retired from professional tennis in 2022 and Nadal is currently undergoing rehab following hip surgery. Both of them trails Djokovic in the Grand Slams and Big Titles count.
While the Swiss legend was quick to acknowledge the exploits of 19-year-old Coco Gauff who won the women's title, even dedicating an entire post on his social media pages, it looks 'even worse' according to another commenter regarding Federer's silence.
'They are not friends but they are colleagues. This is a historic achievement and Federer and Nadal are multiple winners of the award for sportsmanship. Roger did congratulate Coco, so this looks even worse.'
One fan went as far as claiming that the duo 'are not happy' with Djokovic taking all the records: 'Hate duplicity. Hate PR machinations. Hate the manufactured bromance between Fed and Nadal. So I also don’t think Fedal should congratulate Novak because they are obviously not happy about it.'
One hilarious comment by a Djokovic fan asserts that Federer and Nadal might be having an internet connectivity problem hence the delay, saying, 'Just to advise that both Federer or Nadal are yet to publicly congratulate their peer Djokovic one achieving of the most remarkable ever feats in Tennis. Even their PA teams can't mask their pain anymore it seems, or maybe they just don't have a WiFi signal?'
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