“Wimbledon Pantomime Villian”– that’s how the headlines carry the news about Novak Djokovic in the national newspapers. After spending over 2 decades on the tennis circuit, Novak Djokovic has succeeded in creating history. And soon became part of the celebrated Big 3 group. And as Wimbledon races to its climax, Rafael Nadal has come out in support of compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, and this time, on the contrary, instead of Djokovic fans are out for Nadal with the question: is he jealous of the Serb?

It’s a big day for both the countries: England and Spain. And Rafael Nadal is all set to watch the showdown as he cheers for his country to light up at night in celebration. To share the excitement about the packed day, Nadal shared a screenshot of the upcoming matches on his Instagram Story with the caption: “Vamossss @Carlitosalcaraz.” However, this support for the youngster soon had fans in a frenzy for all the wrong reasons.

A tennis fan took a screenshot of Nadal’s story and posted it on X, expressing his surprise at Nadal openly rooting for Alcaraz over Djokovic. He shared the snippet with the following caption:

While Nadal has 22 Grand Slam titles in his kit, the Serbian tennis star is ahead of his Spanish rival with 24 Grand Slam titles. And tennis fans thought that Nadal is cheering and hoping for Alcaraz to win the Wimbledon re-match to restrict the gap to 2 Grand Slam. However, this tweet opened a can of worms and tennis fans gathered to blast the Clay King for it.

Rafael Nadal’s Alcaraz backing leads tennis fans to question the stoic’s emotions

Nadal is seen to be the most calm and composed tennis player on the court. Never in his 2 decades-long tennis career has anyone seen him smashing a racquet, throwing the ball, or tantrum on the court. However, if things were presumed to be harsh unintentionally, he would rectify it immediately. The stoic in the Big 3. However, Nadal’s open support for his countryman as he goes for the 2nd consecutive Wimbledon title is not taken kindly by tennis fans, and they take it as a tactic to limit the slam gap between the two. And this one fan said, “Rafa wud love alcaraz to prevent the slams gap b/w him n novak from increasing even more…no⁉️”

Many tennis fans had anticipated that being Djokovic’s ‘batch mate’, Nadal would rally behind him to ensure that the greatness of Big3 remains unparalleled for times to come. However, this step of supporting Alcaraz surprised them. Moreover, Djokovic has been respectful of Nadal on various occasions. Once he commended his tennis skills on the Red Clay, “He has been the greatest rival that I ever had. Matches against him on clay have frustrated me so much in my career.” And it seems that this tennis fan is also a die-hard Djokovic supporter, as he blasts Nadal for not showing the same respect in times of trials for the Serbian Ace.

He said, “And people wonder why I’ve said for the past 10 or so years that Novak was always far too nice and respectful to Rafa. I know Novak’s a lovely guy and holds no grudges, but come on, Rafa’s bitterness and disrespect has gone on far too long. Pathetic example of a good sportsman.” Another tennis fan added to it, as he thought the ever-composed Nadal be jealous of the Serbian ace. He further added, “What more can we expect from this classless bald fraud? Has always been jealous of Novak”

However, some tennis fans came out in support of Nadal’s action as they questioned, “I mean who the hell is rooting for Djoko???” Rightly so, Djokovic has created history over the years with his racquet. But the Serbian ace has failed in his attempts to gather his dedicated fan base as he was seen as the third wheel between Nadal and Roger. And even after their exit, the Serbian ace has been getting “booos” in terms of “Ruuuunee.”

Though it’s a typical Rafael Nadal act to support his nation in both tennis and Euro cup. But jealous or not, that is best left to him to respond!