Maria Sharapova & Mirra Andreeva at Wimbledon. Superstar meets future superstar. ❤️ (via @IMGTennis)
Our Daily Dose of Social Media featuring Alcaraz, Sinner, Swiatek, Shnaider, Barty, Andreeva and Sharapova
ATPSunday, 30 June 2024 at 20:32
Daily Dose of Social Media returns ahead of Wimbledon with the top moments from the day that was Saturday 29 June with the road to SW19 continuing.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Maria Sharapova, Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider all feature in today's Daily Dose of Social Media. The moments you may or may not have missed from the past day.
Superstar meet future superstar
Mirra Andreeva was lauded previously as the next Maria Sharapova this time last year which the now 17-year-old shunned as she wasn't her idol growing up and she preferred other players.
But a year on from those comments, they ended up meeting up with management IMG sharing the content on social media. Sharapova is over in the UK with the former champion joking herself on her own socials about how her fiance will be able to get into Wimbledon wearing casual clothing to the max with strict rules inside SW19 on what guests can wear.
But while she wrangles with that, it was all smiles as she met the next star of Russian tennis in Andreeva who has been nothing short of sublime in the past 12 months since emerging onto the tour. She reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros last time out defeated by Jasmine Paolini who went on to reach the final.
Shnaider's hilarious on court interview featuring her new zoo
Diana Shnaider sealed the Bad Homburg title on Saturday afternoon defeating Donna Vekic to claim the latest title in her collection with the rising Russian producing one of the best lines in a post match interview all year.
Shnaider has previously won the Hua Hin Open and joked that she has trophies of gorillas, whales and now an elephant and that she is going to have a zoo this year. "It's a very great trophy," she said. "I'm gonna have a zoo this year. I have a gorilla, I have a whale. Now I have an elephant."
Diana Shnaider after beating Donna Vekic to win Bad Homburg: “It’s a very great trophy. I’m gonna have a zoo this year. I have a gorilla. I have a whale. Now I have an elephant” 😂
Barty returns back to Wimbledon
Ashleigh Barty returned to Wimbledon for the first time since 2021 when she claimed the title with her husband Garry and their child Hayden in tow as she looked over the balcony.
It is going to be a brief period of respite for the Barty family with Ash who initially seemed to be heading completely away from tennis having two roles at the championships in the next few weeks. She will work for BBC during their coverage of the tournament as a pundit and commentator.
While she will also play with Casey Dellacqua in the Legends Doubles. Slightly odd given that Barty has said constantly that she won't be playing again. But Wozniacki also did the same and returned last year also playing in Legends. So who knows. But for now, she has no intention to do so.
Family time at #Wimbledon 🥰 A warm welcome back to our 2021 Ladies’ Singles Champion, @ashbarty! 👋🇦🇺
Sinnerskaya share laugh after training
From one couple in the Barty's who have long been together to one just at the start of their relationship, Jannik Sinner and Anna Kalinskaya have been fairly open about their relationship thus far.
Especially given that Sinner himself has spoken about his displeasure in the past of speaking about his private life. But they spoke about each other in post match speeches over the past week and they also shared a laugh after training as pictured by Wimbledon.
It also seems Sinner had competition to be with Kalinskaya as she was quizzed in Berlin about people in her DM's. Footballers were the big theme as she revealed that many had shot their shot in her DM's. But Sinner won as he has been a lot recently. "I don't know, probably some football player, so I'm not gonna.... I don't know, too many football players. So, I didn't reply."
Jannik Sinner and Anna Kalinskaya laughing and smiling at Wimbledon. Happy couple. ❤️ (via @Wimbledon)
Top favourites and seeds in sync
Prior to that, Jannik Sinner was deep in training and both the World No.1 and the World No.2 in Carlos Alcaraz as the top two seeds were firmly in sync.
Training on Aorangi Park at Wimbledon, both went through their paces side by side as they both get ready to begin their campaigns on Monday. Alcaraz faces Mark Lajal first up on Centre Court, while Sinner will take on Yannick Hanfmann. Matteo Berrettini could await him.
Sinner has been thrust away from the limelight as such as he sits on Court One with Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu taking the Centre Court billing schedule wise. Both though will be in the forefront of ATP minds on Monday though. Novak Djokovic will be playing on Tuesday to begin the tournament, while Marketa Vondrousova will be at least in one of the spots due to being defending champion so that will be more clear cut than usual and even Monday in that way. So there will be little conjecture and likely more players missing out.
Read also
Two high seeds in sync 👀 #Wimbledon @carlosalcaraz | @janniksin
Raducanu and Badosa practice together
A smattering of top names started their road towards the opening day with Emma Raducanu and Paula Badosa also ramping up their preparation.
They both also play on Monday. Raducanu is on Centre Court facing off against Ekaterina Alexandrova while Badosa in one of the ties of the opening round has been somewhat shunted onto Court 18 against Karolina Muchova.
But both after horrific injuries make their Wimbledon returns this time. Badosa was also spotted with another player in a similar boat in Bianca Andreescu yesterday so it seems to be a formerly injured club.
Emma Raducanu and Paula Badosa practicing together at Wimbledon. 💚
Press conference gaffes begin with Swiatek
While it wouldn't be a pre tournament press conference without a gaffe. A regular feature somewhat despite these journalists being paid to cover the sport.
Iga Swiatek was subjected to it this time. She was asked at pre-tournament press about not playing the Olympic Games to which she just looked puzzled and asked about playing in the future. To which she just calmly responded that she is definitely playing.
"Wait I'm not playing Olympics, I am playing for sure. Wrong player," said a puzzled Swiatek. Likely in this case as she pointed out the player before or after was likely not playing the Olympic Games hence the mess up but at least she saw the humorous side in the end.
I don't know how Iga managed to refrain from -- at the very least -- rolling her eyes when this was THE FIRST question in her pre-tournament press conference. 🎥@Wimbledon
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