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Tennis is, was and always will be one of the most popular sports in the world. Players like Andre Agassi, Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Jim Connors, John McEnroe, Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras gained a lot of fame and respect thanks to their brilliant performances on the Tennis court.
These legends had fans worldwide and as time has passed, the game has got its new stars.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Juan Martín del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Naomi Osaka, Sania Mirza and players from all over the world have taken the sport to a whole new level.
With the advent of technology and the growth of social media, a plethora of Tennis stars have a huge fan following on Instagram, the No.1 social media site right now. The female Tennis stars have almost double the followers than that of the top male players.
Here’s a countdown of the top five most followed Tennis players on Instagram:
#5 Novak Djokovic (4.6 million followers)
The former world number 1 from Serbia quickly soared to the top after making his debut as a professional. He made history by becoming the first ever Serbian to win a Grand Slam title as well as reach the coveted #1 position in the ATP world rankings.
Nicknamed Joker, Novak has won all the four Grand Slams at least once. He has also been a part of the International Tennis Premier League in the past. Juan Martin Del Potro has ended his dream of an Olympic medal by defeating him in a bronze medal match at the London Olympics in 2012.
Whilst, in the Rio Olympics of 2016 Novak was defeated in the first round again by the Argentine Tennis star. Djokovic is also a part of Men's Tennis' "Big 4" along with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
Djokovic returned to the court this year after an elbow surgery and won the Wimbledon and US Open 2018. The Serbian Tennis star has a huge fan following on Instagram with over 4.5 million followers.
A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole) on Oct 12, 2018 at 6:17am PDT
#4 Sania Mirza - 4.9 million followers
India’s most successful female Tennis player, Sania Mirza has been off the court for a while due to pregnancy. Sania Mirza, along with Swiss veteran Martina Hingis had one of the longest undefeated streaks in the history of women's doubles. Mirza has prominently been a doubles player despite reaching no. 27 once in the WTA singles' rankings.
Sania has also won multiple medals for her country, India at various multi-sport events. However, she has never won an Olympic medal. The Indian Tennis star recently stated in an interview that it is her dream to return at the 2020 Olympics after having a baby.
Sania Mirza is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. She has played the inspirational role in the rise of young Indian Tennis players like Ankita Raina and Prarthana Thombhare. The Indian Tennis star has almost 5 million followers on the social network.
$3 $3 $3$3$3$3 $3 View this post on Instagram$3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3🤓🤓🤓
A post shared by Sania Mirza (@mirzasaniar) on Oct 10, 2018 at 6:52am PDT
#3 Roger Federer - 5.4 million followers
Roger Federer is one of the most loved Tennis players all over the world. The Swiss Tennis veteran has been an inspiration and a role model for all the young players. The Tennis legend is a global icon and is a proud brand ambassador of various top brands of the world. Federer also teamed up with long-time rival Rafa Nadal to play a doubles match representing the European team at the Laver Cup.
Roger is 37 years old currently yet can out-perform the players of half his age. The Swiss legend has had great rivalries with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the past. Federer is the second most followed male Tennis player on Instagram with 5.4 million followers. He keeps sharing his training photos and videos along with his off-the-court images which garner a plethora of likes and comments.
$3 $3 $3$3$3$3 $3 View this post on Instagram$3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3 $3 $3 $3
A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) on Oct 5, 2018 at 9:23am PDT
#2 Rafael Nadal - 5.9 million followers
The current world number 1 player and the most successful individual on the clay court, Rafael Nadal has the highest number of followers for a male Tennis player. Nadal has always played an important role in his nation's success at the multi-national Davis Cup.
Known for his singles skills, Rafa is also a fantastic doubles player having won the Olympic Gold medal with fellow country-mate Feliciano Lopez in 2016. Nadal had also won the singles gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His wrist injuries have tried to keep the Spaniard away from the sport but his passion and desire to play Tennis has made him the player he is today.
The trophy cabinet of Rafa has 11 French Open trophies besides 3 US titles, 1 Australian Open title and 2 Wimbledon Championships. His fan following on Instagram is growing day by day as the legend is approaching 60,00,000 followers.
$3 $3 $3$3$3$3 $3 View this post on Instagram$3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3$3 $3 $3 $3Vamos Rober!
A post shared by Rafa Nadal (@rafaelnadal) on Sep 14, 2018 at 9:06am PDT
#1 Serena Williams- 10 million followers
One-half of the Williams sisters, Serena Williams has a humongous 1,00,00,000+ followers on Instagram. The American Tennis star, who made her return to the Tennis court after a break is currently ranked no.16 in the WTA rankings. However, she has been at the helm of the rankings on eight separate occasions. Williams has won 23 singles Grand Slam titles in her career which is more than any male Tennis player has won.
Serena's sister Venus Williams too has had tremendous success in singles and doubles competition. The Williams sisters dominated the women's doubles division in their prime and had won 3 Gold medals representing U.S.A at the Olympics. The recently turned mother, Williams is married to Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian and is the biggest Tennis star of the current generation. Williams is a regular on the social media site sharing her life off the court to her 10 million fans.
A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on Oct 10, 2018 at 2:03pm PDT
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
