“You Put Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal Who Are Not Even Playing”: Unhappy Fans Attack Wimbledon and Rolex For “Disrespectful” Promotional Video Without Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is once again having quite the year, winning both the Grand Slam titles played this season. The previous one which came at Roland Garros marked his 23rd Major, making him the only man to do so in the singles category. Given just how comfortable the Serb has looked despite his age, whispers about a Calendar Slam are once again wafting around the tennis community. Next up is Wimbledon, a Slam that Nole has won the last four editions of and a total of 7 times. But the promotional video put out by the organizers has not pleased tennis fans.

The high quality video and the accompanying blog post both are very light on featuring Djokovic. In fact, the blog post has no mention of the Serbian while the video only has a blink-and-miss glimpse of him. Add to that the fact that both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal get a shout out, despite one having retired and the other not competing, and you have some fuel for the fire that has been burning for years now.

Where is Novak Djokovic?

Novak Djokovic is Wimbledon royalty in every sense; he’s not only won the last four editions of the grass Major but also boasts of 7 titles in total, just one behind Roger Federer. And it is increasingly looking likely that Nole will have a very good shot at his 8th Wimbledon title in a few weeks. Naturally then, fans expected to see the Serbian feature heavily in any and all promotional efforts in the build-up to the Grand Slam. And things are not off to a great start.

In the video put up on the Instagram page for Wimbledon, the Serb only makes an appearance at the very end alongside Elena Rybakina, evidently as the defending champions. On the other hand, Federer and Nadal both get some good space along with a mention of their names.

Federer and Wimbledon are synonymous with one another, a match made in heaven. Both exude an elegance that is hard to emulate and the Swiss’ game was tailor-made for grass and that is where he made his mark and announced his arrival. He also holds the record for most singles titles at the All England Club (although he may soon be sharing that record). So it makes sense for the 20-time Grand Slam winner to be a prominent part of any promotion done by the organizers. To top it off, Rolex is the primary sponsor for the event, a brand that has had ties with Federer for years. But all this should not mean a lack of recognition for Novak Djokovic is the primary sentiment making the rounds.

While heated debates between Federer, Nadal and Djokovic fans have been around for over a decade now and will continue to rage on for years to come, this time around it seemed majority of tennis fans felt it unfair to the Serbian.

The comment section is rife with fans calling the organizers out for the slight against the 23-time Grand Slam champion with one rightly pointing out,

“You put Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal who are not even playing.”

Moreover, the blog post on the official website of the Grand Slam too fails to mention Novak Djokovic. It names Venus and Serena Williams, Federer, Nadal, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe and also a few younger stars but not the Serb.

Many users on Twitter too were indignant of the fact and voiced their disappointment at this injustice.

Some even pointed fingers at Wimbledon’s biggest sponsor, Rolex.

Wimbledon begins July 3 and will see the return of stars like Nick Kyrgios and former champion Andy Murray and possibly even former World No. 3 Milos Raonic. But all eyes will be trained onto Novak Djokovic who’ll be bidding for his 5th straight Wimbledon championship and 8th overall Slam on the grass.