Daily Dose of Social Media: Naomi Osaka’s Emotional Throwback, Tiafoe's GOAT Challenge

Today in our Daily Dose of Social Media, we review the most important activities and entertainment from ATP and WTA players. Naomi Osaka shared an emotional message on her social media following her triumphant debut at the US Open against Jelena Ostapenko. The former world No. 1 revealed a photo of herself with crutches from just a year ago.

Frances Tiafoe faced a tough challenge in choosing the ultimate GOAT among sport legends. Additionally, the ATP released a video featuring Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul joking around and sharing details about their friendship off the court.

Li Tu’s underarm serve mishap provides laughter during US Open clash

Li Tu created a funny moment during his match against Carlos Alcaraz in the first round of the US Open. The Australian player secured his first ATP-level victory just a year ago and made his debut in a Grand Slam main draw after successfully coming through the qualifiers.

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The 28-year-old stepped onto Arthur Ashe Stadium to challenge the 4-time Grand Slam champion and put on a strong performance, managing to take a set from the Spaniard. Despite not pulling off the upset, Tu left a positive impression on the fans. At one point during the match, he attempted an underarm serve that nearly caught Alcaraz off guard, but the ball hit the net.

The moment, where Tu is seen laughing after his service error, was shared on social media. You can check out the amusing moment here:

Tiafoe picks his GOAT among sports legend

Frances Tiafoe faced a tough challenge when asked to choose the GOAT in sports history. The former world No. 10 has had a strong start at the US Open, securing victories over Aleksandar Kovacevic and Alexander Shevchenko.

“Oh god, that’s brutal, I’m going with Usain,” Tiafoe said when asked to choose between Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American swimmer Michael Phelps. Throughout the game, Frances Tiafoe had to choose between several sports legends, including Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo, Muhammad Ali, Katie Ledecky, LeBron James, Simone Biles, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, and Michael Jordan.

Osaka shares heartfelt message after first-round win at US Open

Naomi Osaka shared an emotional message after her first-round victory at the US Open. The 4-time Grand Slam champion convincingly defeated 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, marking her first win against a top-10 player in four years.

The Japanese star shared a photo of herself on crutches a year ago, shortly after welcoming her daughter Shai: “I've been asked why I was so emotional yesterday and honestly if you don't even include coming back from pregnancy, New York being my home, etc., this was me a year ago,” she wrote. “I legitimately couldn't walk without pain and I didn't know if I could play at a high intensity anymore. So yeah, this sport means a lot to me.”

The former world No.1 will play in the second round on Thursday during the night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Osaka will face Czech player Karolina Muchova, a former French Open champion, who recently defeated local player Katie Volynets.

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Fritz and Paul reveal their off-court friendship in ATP video

Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul featured in an ATP video where they talked about their friendship outside of tennis and answered several questions about each other. When asked, “What professional would the other be apart from tennis?” Fritz said, “I don’t know, I’m pretty confident in your baseball ability. Last week you were saying how good you’d be at baseball,” he added.

Paul responded, “He’d be gaming. He already does that, but he’d be gaming more. That was actually the craziest part of the whole week. Not this, the lack of gaming.”

“Best friends is back and Tommy and Taylor are the duo you need to know 🤝”