A video of Novak Djokovic sitting on the net during a practice as if he was meditating is not real, despite how realistic it looked.
Djokovic has not competed on the court since the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia. His last ATP tournament was the Shanghai Masters, where he finished second to Jannik Sinner.
Many fans were left disappointed when Djokovic withdrew from last week's ATP Finals, citing an injury. He would have been the defending champion after winning his seventh title at last year's season-ending event.
However, rumors circulated for weeks before that, indicating that Djokovic planned to skip the season-ending tournament to rest and prepare for the 2025 Australian Open.
That mindset would be consistent with Djokovic's stated approach of focusing on the four Grand Slams and representing Serbia at this late stage of his career, meaning even prestigious tournaments like the ATP Finals could be skipped.
Djokovic's only remaining commitments for the rest of 2024 are playing an exhibition match in December to mark the end of Juan Martin Del Potro's career and attending Rafael Nadal's final appearance at the Davis Cup Finals, starting today against the Netherlands.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion's worldwide fame and fanbase mean videos related to him appear even when he is not competing in a tournament, showing how he transcends the sport.
A few weeks ago, a fan revealed Djokovic's whereabouts by posting a picture of him on holiday in the Maldives with his family. That picture made it more evident that the 37-year-old would not play at the ATP Finals before he announced it.
Another example was a video of Djokovic that appeared from a popular content creator named Ari Fararooy. It showed him sitting on a tennis net with his legs spread as if he were meditating.
The video from the well-known creator received much attention online. Some wondered if it was Djokovic and how he could keep his balance so well when sitting so perfectly balanced on the net.
However, it is essential to clarify that Ari Fararooy's video is not real. Despite being known to be spiritual and possess outstanding balance, Djokovic was not sitting on the net, as the footage showed.
Fararooy's video certainly looks very realistic and is an example of how easily reality can be distorted when talented creators have access to technology that can make many situations look real.
Although the video is inaccurate, it demonstrates Fararooy's talents since it could easily be mistaken for a genuine video. Many tennis fans fell into the trap of believing it was Djokovic without verifying the video.
Fararooy collaborates with many top athletes, and in these collaborations, they are shown to do incredible things that they did not actually manage. There are many examples outside of Djokovic's video.
It is true that Djokovic will be in the stands for the final day of Nadal's career if Team Spain does not win its Davis Cup quarterfinal against the Netherlands.