Today in our
Daily Dose of Social Media, we review the most important activities and
entertainment from ATP and WTA players.
Dominic Thiem's farewell took center stage on the first day of the
US Open, after he fell to Ben Shelton in his last Grand Slam appearance following his announcement to retire at the end of the season.
On the other hand, Djokovic shared an interesting recap video of his last few days as he anticipates his debut tonight at the US Open. Additionally, a fun video shows ATP and WTA stars choosing the celebrities they would like to invite to watch one of their matches.
Thiem receives ovation and tribute after final Grand Slam match at US Open
Dominic
Thiem experienced his last match in a Grand Slam after falling to Ben Shelton
in the first round of the US Open. The Austrian world No. 210 received a
wildcard to play the tournament for the last time after announcing his
retirement at the end of the season.
The 2020 US
Open champion couldn’t do much against the local player and fell 4-6, 2-6, 2-6.
Beyond the result, Thiem received a worthy tribute from the organizers once the
match was over and couldn’t hide his emotion after receiving the ovation from
the crowd. “I’ve had my greatest success on this court […] I’m super happy I
got the chance to play my last match here & spend some time with you guys,”
an emotional Thiem commented after the defeat.
The
30-year-old player reached world No. 3 as his best ranking result, reached four
Grand Slam finals, and finally secured the title on his fourth attempt by
defeating Alexander Zverev in a thrilling final that was decided in the 5th set
tie-break.
Once the
match was over, Thiem also received a commemorative plaque featuring photos of
his major achievements, with the official photo of him holding the US Open
trophy in 2020 at the center.
Daria
Kasatkina caught dancing at US Open
A video on
social media shows
Daria Kasatkina dancing enthusiastically during her US Open
debut. The 12th seed had an easy first round against Jaqueline Cristian,
securing a 6-2, 6-4 victory that takes her to the second round of the
tournament, where she awaits the winner between Lesia Tsurenko and Peyton
Stearns.
The Russian player has gained popularity with her video
blogs on YouTube, where she shares behind-the-scenes moments from the WTA Tour.
Kasatkina shared a video today of herself dancing on Court 7, surprised that it
was caught on camera: “How much I hoped that no one gonna notice it🫣😂”
US Open stars
reveal their dream celebrity spectators
ATP and WTA
players chose some celebrities they'd love to invite to their matches at the
current US Open. With the participation of
Iga Swiatek,
Coco Gauff, Aryna
Sabalenka,
Jannik Sinner,
Taylor Fritz, and more, the players even extended
invitations to the stars they selected.
“Who’s a
celebrity that has not watched you play that you would love to pull up to a
match?” they were asked.
Coco Gauff
chose Rihanna: “Hey Ri Ri, you want to come to a match?” said the defending US
Open champion.
Meanwhile,
Iga Swiatek picked Taylor Swift and Travis. The world No. 1 has expressed her
fandom for Taylor Swift multiple times and even shared videos from one of her
recent concerts. “I want to invite Taylor Swift to come to the US Open and
enjoy tennis and the show,” she said.
Djokovic
shares video recap before US Open Defense
Novak
Djokovic shared a recap video of his recent days at the US Open, along with
some footage of his recent successes in Grand Slam tournaments. The Serbian
returns to Flushing Meadows with the mission to defend the title he won in
2023.
The 24-time
Grand Slam champion already has 5 US Open titles and is aiming to reach the
record of 6 titles in New York, as well as his 25th Grand Slam title, which
would make him the most successful player in tennis history, surpassing the
Australian legend Margaret Court, who also won 24 titles throughout her career,
although half of them were before the Open Era.
Djokovic
will debut this Monday in the night session against Moldova's Radu Albot,
marking his first appearance since winning the gold medal in Paris 2024.
Broady slams Sinner’s ‘curated’ interview
Liam Broady
criticized Jannik Sinner's latest interview amid the doping controversy. Nick
Kyrgios and Denis Shapovalov have led the criticism over the situation, after
the Italian player avoided suspension, unlike others in similar situations,
such as Nicolas Jarry, Simona Halep, or Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The world
No. 1 denied receiving special treatment: "Obviously, if this happens to
different players, it's gonna be different. But again, if you ask me, I was
treated like everyone else, which is why I kept playing. I just knew because we
knew exactly how it entered my system and where Clostebol was from, you know.
Clostebol was in the spray, so all things got stirred, and I haven’t had
different treatment," said the Italian.
Liam Broady
shared his opinion on social media, expressing his disagreement with Sinner's
statements and criticizing the effort to maintain his image: "Not treated
differently from other players but gets curated, presidential sit-down
interviews with ESPN to maintain image 😂. Where’s this energy for everybody else? Never
seen anything like this 🤣."