New Roland Garros promotional poster attracts criticism from Novak Djokovic's fans on Twitter

Roland Garros organizers attracted the ire of Novak Djokovic's fans on Saturday, when they took to Twitter to upload a promotional poster for the 2022 edition of the tournament. They made the artistic choice to include Stefanos Tsitsipas, the runner-up at last year's French Open, in the design and not the defending champion.

That decision didn't go down well with legions of Djokovic fans. The post was originally meant to promote the night sessions at this year's French Open on Court Philipp-Chatrier. Tsitsipas can be seen standing front and center in the poster, with the text "move the lines with your audacity" superimposed on his frame.

Consequently, many fans questioned the Roland Garros social media team's decision to incorporate Tsitsipas, and not Djokovic, in the design.

A fan named Yolita asked the Roland Garros team why the promotional poster for this year's tournament didn't include the reigning champion.

"Any reason why you chose the finalist instead of the reigning champion?" they tweeted.

Another fan named Nina was much harsher in her criticism of the design, boldly claiming that whoever came up with the idea for the poster "had made a mistake."

"Whoever made this poster made a mistake. You put the guy who lost last year on it," the fan tweeted.

One of the Serb's fans didn't think it was fair to leave the 20-time Major winner out of the promotional poster.

"Why didn't you add the defending champion in the advertising? Not fair at all!" they wrote.

A fan named Mikikant claimed that they wouldn't be buying tickets for the tournament if the defending champion didn't play.

"I will only buy tickets if Novak Djokovic plays!" they tweeted, attaching a picture of the Serb holding the Coupe des Mousequetaires last year.

Another fan named BK Patil called Roland Garros' design "cheap," and questioned the "authenticity" of the organizers.

"Cheap. Don't lose your authenticity by leaving Novak out of poster. He is the defending champion and GOAT," they wrote.

Novak Djokovic may not have featured on the poster because it wasn't clear before this week whether the Serb would be allowed to play in Paris

The Serb celebrates after winning the 2021 French Open.

While it may seem strange that Roland Garros' organizers chose not to incorporate Djokovic in the poster, it should be taken into consideration that it wasn't clear until recently whether the Serb would be allowed to play at this year's event.

Perhaps the French Open's graphic design team completed the first draft of the poster when it was being widely reported that Djokovic would not be allowed to play in Paris due to vaccine mandates. However, as things currently stand, the 20-time Major winner will likely play this year after the French government decided to lift its policy of COVID-19 vaccine passes.

It should also be noted that Tsitsipas is one of the most marketable athletes in the sporting world. The Greek recently made it to TC Candler's "100 Most Handsome Faces and 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021." Against that background, even though he failed to win the coveted title in Paris last year, he is far from a bad choice for the promotional poster of this year's French Open.