Rafael Nadal becomes first tennis player to reach over 21 million followers on Instagram, way clear of Serena Williams

A lot of discourse surrounds the GOAT debate and who is better out of Rafael Nadal and his contemporaries but in terms of social media following, the Spaniard is the undisputed king after becoming the first tennis player to reach over 21 million followers on Instagram.

Nadal joined the platform in 2015 and has exactly that number and is well clear of Serena Williams who is nearly four million followers behind in second. Novak Djokovic is third with 14.4m, while Roger Federer concludes the top four with 12.1m.

The 37-year-old returned to the tour at the start of the year playing at the Brisbane International, before losing to Jordan Thompson which saw a micro tear emerge in his thigh. He withdrew from the Australian Open and also halted his return from the sport in a further setback before the Qatar Open. He will play over the next week at the Netflix Slam against Carlos Alcaraz where they will also charge a mind boggling amount for private sessions as well as Indian Wells.

But with the clay court season on the horizon, it seems that Miami Open will not happen and he will instead focus in particular on Monte-Carlo, Rome, Madrid and Barcelona in the run-up to the French Open on his favoured surface of clay. Throughout his comeback from injury, Nadal shared a lot of his updates on Instagram and it is easy to see why given his followers and how much he has compared to the rest of the tour. A true show of Nadal's fan favourite status and a number that will likely grow as fans want to know the latest news before his career will supposedly wind down.