Daily Dose of Social Media: Medal ceremony selfie amidst American tensions; Kyrgios mocks Shapovalov Default

Today in our Daily Dose of Social Media, we review the most important activities and Entertainment from ATP and WTA players. Zheng Qinwen achieved Olympic Gold, sharing the podium with Donna Vekic and Iga Swiatek. After the awards ceremony, the three shared a sportsmanship moment by taking a selfie, while fans noted the controversies each of them had with American players.

Carlos Alcaraz posed for a photo as a 'fan' of the Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini as they prepare for their respective Olympic finals on Sunday. Additionally, Nick Kyrgios mocked the umpire who defaulted Denis Shapovalov at the DC Open.

Swiatek, Zheng, and Vekic: Medal Ceremony Selfie amidst American Controversies

Zheng Qinwen achieved a historic gold medal for China in tennis. The 21-year-old had a remarkable performance in Paris, defeating world No. 1 and 4-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek and overcoming Donna Vekic in the final.

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Iga Swiatek amongst three big names to withdraw from Canadian Open due to health and fatigue

After the awards ceremony, Swiatek approached her fellow players and asked them to take a selfie to remember the podium moment. The three players posed happily with their medals in a sportsmanship moment. The moment was shared on social media, with one fan commenting: “I hope they sent this pic to the three Americans - Gauff, Navarro & Collins,”

Zheng found herself in controversy after Navarro stated, “I don’t respect her.” A similar situation occurred with Swiatek and Collins after the American harshly criticized her and even hit her with a ball during their match: “I don't need the fakeness,” Swiatek commented later in the press conference. Vekic also faced issues with the Americans, having defeated Gauff in the third round in a controversial match where the world No. 2 cried on court after a questionable umpire call.

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From Asian Games to Olympics: Zheng's golden trajectory continues

Alcaraz becomes ‘new fan’ of Paolini and Errani as they reach Olympic final

The partnership between Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani has yielded clear results at Roland Garros. In their preparation for Paris 2024, they unexpectedly reached the final of the French Open, and this time in the framework of the Olympic Games, they have once again reached the women's doubles final, where they will face neutral athletes Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.

The Italians will be the favorites on Sunday in the final, which will precede the men's singles final. Meanwhile, both took a photo with a new fan, none other than Carlos Alcaraz, who will fight for the gold medal against Djokovic right after the Italians' match: “Many fans want to take selfies with me and Sara!” joked Paolini on social media.

Sinner sets sights on Canadian Open

Jannik Sinner has arrived in Canada for the upcoming Masters 1000 in Montreal. The world No. 1 has put behind his illness that kept him out of the Olympic Games and will seek to defend the title he won in 2023 after defeating Alex De Minaur in the final.

The title he won in 2023 (held in Toronto) marked the beginning of a strong end to the year, earning him crucial points that helped him become world No. 1 in 2024 following his Australian Open title. Sinner is now facing a challenging part of the season with many points to defend, but the Italian is training at the highest level to continue his impressive form from the past year: “Putting in the work,” he posted on X alongside a photo of himself training in Canada.

Jannik Sinner

@janniksin

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Putting in the work 💪🏼

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Daily Dose of Social Media: Kyrgios sparks hope with training video as Swiatek breaks down after semifinal defeat

Kyrgios reacts to Shapovalov's DC Open default with laughter

A controversial default suffered by Denis Shapovalov against Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals of the DC Open. The Canadian was having a great week with victories over Roberto Bautista Agut, Adrian Mannarino, and Miomir Kecmanovic. In the quarterfinal match against Shelton, he was disqualified when he had three match points against him after apparently shouting at a fan and throwing his racket.

The video spread on social media and generated reactions from the tennis world, including Nick Kyrgios, who commented on an Instagram post by Tennis TV, laughing at the decision to disqualify 'Shapo': “Umpires are the best,” commented the Australian with a laughing emoji. You can watch the footage here:

Becker's Olympic podium: Only one Big-3 member in his top picks

Boris Becker chose his favourite tennis legends in a 'Podium of Legends', ranking them in order of bronze, silver, and gold, considering the context of the Olympic Games. The former world No. 1 is in Paris 2024 as a Eurosport expert and appeared on social media.

Notably, two of the three players chosen by the German are not members of the Big-3, preferring two legends from the early years of the Open Era. The 3-times Wimbledon champion chose Bjorn Borg as his first inspiration to pick up a racket, then gave the silver medal to Rod Laver, and considered Novak Djokovic (whom he coached between 2014 and 2016) as his undisputed favourite.

Billie Jean King and Murray share spectator seats in Paris

Billie Jean King joined the tributes to the recently retired Andy Murray. The British star ended his career at Paris 2024 after being eliminated in the men’s doubles alongside Dan Evans by the American duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals.

The iconic Billie Jean King was among the many stars who honoured and paid tribute to Murray for his great career. The American shared a photo with the three-time Grand Slam champion on social media while they were both in the Olympic gymnastics audience: “Someone is enjoying his retirement,” she wrote.

Saville shares heartwarming proposal video, compares to Siniakova & Machac’s reunion

Daria Saville shared a video on X showing Chinese athlete Huan Yaqiong proposing marriage to her, right after they won the gold medal in badminton doubles with her teammate Zheng Siwei. This notable moment at the Olympic Games was compared by the Australian to Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac.

The Czech duo won the mixed doubles gold medal in tennis and publicly displayed their relationship. Despite announcing their breakup recently, they showed they had rekindled their romance after winning gold. Saville joked about it on X: “This could have been Kat and Tomas.

Daria Saville

@Daria_gav

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omg this could have been Kat and Tomas lol :D

Li Zexin

@XH_Lee23

"I’ll love you forever! Will you marry me?" "Yes! I do!" OMG!!! Romance at the Olympics!!!❤️❤️❤️ Huang Yaqiong just had her "dream come true", winning a badminton mixed doubles gold medal🥇with her teammate Zheng Siwei Then her boyfriend Liu Yuchen proposed! 🎉🎉🎉

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Li Zexin

@XH_Lee23

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"I’ll love you forever! Will you marry me?" "Yes! I do!" OMG!!! Romance at the Olympics!!!❤️❤️❤️ Huang Yaqiong just had her "dream come true", winning a badminton mixed doubles gold medal🥇with her teammate Zheng Siwei Then her boyfriend Liu Yuchen proposed! 🎉🎉🎉

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Katerina Siniakova

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🥇❤️

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Victoria Azarenka sends congratulations to medalists

With the conclusion of the women’s Olympic tennis event, former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka did not want to miss the chance to congratulate the medalists. The Belarusian, did not participate in the Olympics and was instead competing at the DC Open where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Aryna Sabalenka. Anyway, she kept an eye on the results at Paris 2024 and congratulated her fellow players Zheng Qinwen, Donna Vekic, and Iga Swiatek on social media.

victoria azarenka

@vika7

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Congratulations to 🥇 Qinwen Zheng,🥈@DonnaVekic and 🥉@iga_swiatek for making history for their countries at the Olympics 2024! 👏🏻

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