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Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal arrived in California well before their competitors. Before the two could meet there, they bumped into each other on the plane. A selfie of their coincidental meeting on the flight set social media alight last week.

Needless to say, the fans had something to say and although Djokovic took the picture in good faith, fans started poking fun at Nadal

Rafael Nadal Trolled by Novak Djokovic Loyalist

Reacting to the picture, a lot of fans and creators took to several social media platforms. One of them is Tennis instructor Nikola Aracic based in Florida. He runs a YouTube channel, IntuitiveTennis247. He posted a YouTube shorts video taking a jibe at Rafa’s current ranking.

With a flat tone and a deadpan expression, he says, “Now, I want to end this Monday morning rant with something that I wanted to talk about for a while but I haven’t. That’s the fact that Novak Djokovic is a very nice person and you would never hear from his team or himself. The fact that he helps a lot of young players, for example, I heard that he bought Philip Krajinovic an apartment in Belgrade. I’ve also heard that Novak helped Medjedovic financially supporting his rise in the rankings. That can be so expensive for a lot of players. I also heard that Medvedev was ranked in the 500s, Novak was super nice to him and actually practiced with him.”

One only feels as if the YouTuber is purely spitting facts in admiration of Djokovic but there is more to it. He adds: “So here’s what happened recently, Novak was on the flight to the United States, and on the plane he saw this guy sitting in the plane, who’s ranked 654 in the world and Novak being the nice guy that he is, he went up to this guy and took a selfie with him.” Right after this sentence, the selfie in question appears on the screen, leaving the fans in splits! The build-up and the satire were not lost on them!

The meet-up is so big that it’s not just the creators and fans reacting to it, even their counterparts have something to say.

Daniil Medvedev Surprised By Novak Djokovic And Rafael Nadal

When asked about the picture, Daniil Medvedev current no. 4 told the Daily Express, “I saw it a little bit. First of all, I was surprised.” Stating that he thinks it’s a bit early for the Indian Wells Masters Cup.

via Imago

The Russian adds, “Where are they going so early? Indian Wells? Why so early?” Medvedev also ponders upon the probability of them ending up on the same plane.

“It’s fun. I guess they didn’t for sure talk to each other before to choose the same flight. I guess it was a surprise for me,” he continued. Medvedev further explains that it isn’t as unlikely as some may think. Players often bump into each other on their tours. “It shows you on tennis tour, you see other players in the plane, you laugh about it, take a picture,” he said.

Nadal and Djokovic will be making a comeback to the Indian Wells Masters Cup. The roaster too, seems primed for explosive matchups. With the stakes so high, how can the selfie not make waves?