Wimbledon Addresses Djokovic Poster Snub Controversy

| by Zachary Wimer

The 2023 Wimbledon is yet to start and the tournament organizers already made a few questionable moves.

Novak Djokovic is a seven-time Wimbledon champion and a 23-time Grand Slam champion. According to the numbers, he's the most successful man in terms of major titles that ever competed on the ATP Tour, and the second most successful at Wimbledon.

The Serb misses one title to tie legendary Roger Federer in the All England Club, and he'll have a chance to do that in 2023. He's a clear favourite and the reason why is simple, he didn't lose at the tournament since 2017, winning it four consecutive times.

However, despite being a four-time defending and reigning champion and a seven-time champion overall, Djokovic barely appeared on any promotional material that Wimbledon organizers chose to use to promote the tournament.

That angered many fans as he didn't appear on the initial promotional poster, and in the promotional video, the 36-year-old had only a split second dedicated to him and Elena Rybakina as the defending champions.

Although later, the tournament organizers added Djokovic's picture to one of the posters, the damage has been done. Therefore, the Serbian publication Sport Klub contacted Wimbledon to get their statement on the situation.

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"We are extremely proud that Novak appears in our promotional video and that he is presented as one of the champions that other players should challenge. Creatively, the final scene of the promo spot features several singles players who are positioned as challengers, and therefore there is neither Novak nor Elena at that moment."

According to the statement, as the tournament approaches, the Serb should be included in more promotional material, and the tournament organizers also reminded that they have created social media material that celebrated Djokovic's 23rd Grand Slam title from Roland Garros.

"As we get closer to the tournament, and during it, Novak will have a prominent place in our strategy. Also, we're sure fans are delighted to have seen many posts on our social networks in recent weeks celebrating his latest Grand Slam success as well as 'rewinding' to his celebration with family at the Central Stadium."

But the Serb's fans aren't the only fans that were left unhappy. When another poster came out, Andy Murray was missing and many Brith were enraged that their biggest star isn't on the poster. However, it's probably impossible for the tournament organizers to make everyone happy, and in the end, all of the champions should be celebrated.

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