Daily Dose of Social Media: Djokovic's heroic welcome, Fernandez's doubles memories with sister Bianca

Today in our Daily Dose of Social Media, we review the most important activities and entertainment from ATP and WTA players. Novak Djokovic received an incredible welcome from thousands of fans upon his arrival in Serbia, alongside his country's Olympic athletes.

With the conclusion of the Canadian Open, Leylah Fernandez shared a brief interview on Instagram discussing her relationship with her sister Bianca and reminisced about their first partnership in the 2022 Canadian Open doubles. As the Cincinnati Open kicks off, Carlos Alcaraz and Paula Badosa posted photos of their preparations for the tournament.

Novak Djokovic received a special welcome in Serbia with thousands of fans cheering for him after winning the gold medal at Paris 2024. The 24-time Grand Slam champion had only one title left to achieve—the Olympic gold medal—and he secured it a week ago by defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.

Nole participated in a special reception at the Old Palace in Belgrade, where Serbian athletes were warmly welcomed by fans, and Djokovic was one of the main stars of the day. Nole received one of the biggest ovations of the event, which also featured basketball player Nikola Jokic and other Serbian athletes.

Leylah Fernandez shared a brief interview from her time at the Canadian Open. The 2021 US Open runner-up was the main local star, despite an early exit in the Round of 32 against Ashlyn Krueger, who came through the qualifiers. However, she had a strong performance in the doubles draw.

Together with her younger sister Bianca Fernandez, they formed a successful partnership, thrilling the local crowd by reaching the semifinals and defeating the 5th seeds Luisa Stefani and Demi Schuurs along the way. Unfortunately for the Fernandez sisters, they were unable to overcome the top seeds Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski.

Before starting their doubles campaign, Leylah reminisced about her partnership with Bianca two years ago when they also played doubles after receiving a wildcard and reached the Round of 16: “I played with Bianca and it was just so much fun, we got our first win here, together as a team. Bianca played incredible. She is a beast, I remember that. And she just took charge of the team too, so it was fun.”

Paula Badosa is preparing for her debut at the Cincinnati Open this Tuesday in the first round against Peyton Stearns, who entered the draw with a wildcard from the organizers. The Spaniard recently claimed the WTA 500 DC Open title after defeating Marie Bouzkova in a thrilling three-set final just over a week ago.

After winning the title, she traveled to the Canadian Open but fell in the second round to 4th seed Jelena Ostapenko. Badosa hopes to regain her form in Cincinnati and continue her upward trajectory in recent months, which has allowed her to climb back into the top 40 after a challenging year. Badosa shared photos from her latest training session in Cincinnati.

Carlos Alcaraz arrived at the Cincinnati Open to return to competition in his first tournament after Paris 2024. The Spaniard reached the tournament final but secured only the silver medal after falling to Novak Djokovic in the gold medal match.

The 4-time Grand Slam champion decided to take a few days off in Spain, skipping the Canadian Open to recharge before the hardcourt swing. At the Cincinnati Open, he must defend the points earned from reaching the final in 2023, where he also suffered a defeat in the final against Djokovic.

A video on social media shows Alcaraz’s first steps upon arriving in Cincinnati, where he interacted with fans after his training session: “Guys, there are kids in front, alright? Don’t push, alright?” Alcaraz said as he approached the crowd of people and children to sign autographs. The Spaniard awaits his debut in the second round against either Gael Monfils or Canadian Open finalist Alexei Popyrin.

Andrey Rublev has had one of the best weeks of his season at the Canadian Open. Despite experiencing some inconsistency in recent months, the Russian managed to reach the final, including a victory over world No. 1 Jannik Sinner along the way. Rublev mentioned the day before that one thing fans might not know about him is that he can't cook, which led to more questions from the press.

“Yesterday, you said that you cannot cook at all. And the fans are like, okay, we want to cook for Andrey. If they were going to cook for you, what would you want them to make?”

“I eat everything, so I’m very simple,” the Russian replied with a laugh. “I mean, if, let’s say, during the year, we take average. Which type of food do I eat the most? It would be Japanese, probably.”

“The fans also said that they knew you couldn’t cook, so they want something different, something else they don’t know about you,” Rublev was asked.

“What else? I still can watch cartoons,” commented the world No. 8 when asked about his favorite. “I don’t know, some Disney when they’re coming in the cinema, I still can watch them,” Rublev added.

Venus Williams participated in the launch event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. After the closing of Paris 2024 on Sunday, Venus Williams was one of the hosts of the 'Countdown to LA28' celebration, which was broadcast in prime time on NBC and Peacock.

Venus Williams was one of the stars of the event, which also featured Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, and H.E.R., among others. The 7-time Grand Slam champion later shared some photos from the event, alongside Snoop Dogg, skateboarder Jagger Eaton, and former American athlete Carl Lewis.