Daily Dose of Social Media: WTA's lyric game fun and Djokovic's chat with Elon Musk

Tennis News
Wednesday, 07 August 2024 at 10:27
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Today in our Daily Dose of Social Media, we review the most important activities and entertainment from ATP and WTA players. Novak Djokovic responded to a message from well-known billionaire Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), who congratulated him on winning the Olympic gold medal a few days ago against Carlos Alcaraz.
At the start of the WTA, some WTA stars participated in a fun guessing lyrics game about Drake and Kendrick Lamar, including Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu, among others. On the other hand, Iga Swiatek shared a heartfelt reflection after her defeat in the Olympics, while Shapovalov reflects on his much-discussed default at the DC Open.

Elon Musk and Novak Djokovic exchange messages after Olympic win

Novak Djokovic received congratulations from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and X (formerly Twitter). The Serbian won the Olympic gold medal on Sunday, completing the Career Golden Slam after a tight victory against Carlos Alcaraz 7-6, 7-6.
Nole had posted a message of gratitude to Serbian fans along with a video of himself as a child and received an unexpected response from Elon Musk: "I could never give up on the dream of winning this gold medal, just as the people of Serbia have never given up on me. Together, we believed in the impossible. While I may be the one holding this medal, I want every Serbian to know that it belongs to all of us," the caption said.
"Congratulations," Musk responded in a message on X, along with a Serbian flag. The 24-time Grand Slam champion replied to the post with a "Thank you, Elon," which was widely commented on by users on X.

Swiatek reflects on emotions after Olympic bronze

Iga Swiatek shared a message to her fans on social media after winning the bronze medal at the Olympic Games. The four-time Roland Garros champion was the top favorite for gold in Paris 2024 but suffered an unexpected defeat to China's Zheng Qinwen, who went on to win the gold two days later.
"After a couple of days, I feel ready to sum up this chapter... Joy, happiness, sadness, disappointment, satisfaction, hunger for more, pride and so many other emotions, thoughts... I'm still figuring it out, and I feel how valuable this experience was to me," Swiatek wrote in a post on social media.
"But what's most important is how much I've experienced here. It was a special time that wouldn't be possible without my team and my family. Thank you for what you did for me,” she added. "Zheng Qinwen, Donna Vekic, huge congrats to you! I'm grateful I could share the Olympic podium with you two."

WTA Stars guess lyrics in fun Canadian Open video

At the start of the Canadian Open, some of the WTA's top stars participated in a guessing lyric game in a fun new video on social media. The participants included Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Leylah Fernandez, Bianca Andreescu, and Jessica Pegula.
The tournament began with its first round on Tuesday, August 6, although the top seeds will have to wait until Thursday as they received a bye in the first round.
In the game, each player was given a lyric that could belong to either Kendrick Lamar or Drake, and they had to decide who the author of the phrase was. “It’s a 50/50 shot, let’s go with Drake. Gotta start with the Canadian favorite here,” Fernandez said at the beginning of the game.
In the fun activity, the players joked about the lyrics of the songs. Check out the interesting musical test of the WTA stars here:

Alcaraz prepares for US Open Series with new haircut

Carlos Alcaraz is getting ready for the US Open Series. The world No. 3 is taking a week off after winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games and used the free days to get a new haircut. The Spaniard appeared smiling on social media and showcased his new hairstyle as he prepares for the hardcourt swing.
This week, Alcaraz decided not to participate in the Masters 1000 Canadian Open and will travel directly to the Cincinnati Open, which starts next week. Last year, he reached the final but lost in an epic match against Novak Djokovic with scores of 7-5, 6-7, 6-7.

Shapovalov issues statement on disqualification

Denis Shapovalov was involved in a controversial disqualification at the DC Open after shouting at a fan when he had three match points against Ben Shelton. The Canadian was 3-6 in the tie-break of the third set when he threw his racket to the ground and yelled at a fan, which earned him a warning (he had already received one for hitting the racket) and ultimately led to his disqualification from the match.
According to the rules, the disqualification also meant that Shapovalov lost the prize money and ranking points he had earned that week, where he had reached the quarter-finals. The Canadian appealed, and the ATP decided to restore his prize money and points, although he was fined just over $36,000.
Following the ATP's decision, Shapovalov issued a statement on social media: "It’s been an extremely stressful time for me. I continue to feel shocked and disappointed over the decision to disqualify me from my match against Ben in Washington. It was not fair to me, him, or anyone who was there to watch the match," Shapovalov began his statement.
“We all work extremely hard—our tennis careers are our lives and should not be derailed by unnecessary subjective ruling. I also hope the ATP can put better rules in place for protecting players from abusive fans,” Shapovalov added later on.
Several fans showed their support, though some noted that Shapovalov did not directly issue an apology in his statement: “This is so many words and yet none of them are any kind of apology, huh,” wrote tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg.

Fede Coria hilariously corrects fan mistake on X tribute poster

World No. 80 Federico Coria hilariously responded to a Twitter post that confused him with Sebastian Baez. The Argentine, brother of former No. 3 Guillermo Coria, has gained notoriety on social media after starting his own YouTube channel, where he shares insights into life on the ATP Tour and behind-the-scenes moments.
The 32-year-old Argentine has posted videos and exclusive interviews from his training sessions with some of the top players, including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner, among others. A user on Twitter made a tribute poster to Fede Coria, showing the Argentine in an edit with three photos at Roland Garros.
However, the creator of the image made a mistake by including, in one of the three photos, fellow Argentine No. 20 Sebastian Baez. Coria shared the image on social media, congratulating the creator but pointing out that one of the photos wasn't him, but his Davis Cup teammate: “Bro, very good, but the one at the bottom is Sebita Báez 🤣🤣🤣 thanks anyway,” he commented.

Kalinskaya sends heartfelt birthday wishes to coach Patricia Tarabini

Anna Kalinskaya sent a special birthday greeting to her coach Patricia Tarabini. The Russian is preparing to debut at the WTA Canadian Open this Tuesday against Louisa Chirico and took the opportunity to share a photo with her coach, one of the few female coaches at the top level: “Happy Birthday to the best coach and my second mama,” she wrote.
Patricia Tarabini had a long career primarily as a doubles player, winning the bronze medal for Argentina in the women's doubles at Athens 2004 alongside Paola Suarez, and also becoming the mixed doubles champion at the 1996 French Open with fellow Argentine Javier Frana.
Tarabini began working as a coach shortly after her retirement in 2006 and joined Kalinskaya's team at the 2019 Wimbledon, when she was outside the top 150 and the Russian was playing her first tournaments at the WTA level. With Tarabini, the Russian reached her first final at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and later at the Berlin Ladies Open, although she finished as the runner-up in both. She also appeared in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the fourth round at Wimbledon, results that have placed her at her career-high ranking of world No. 16.

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