Daily Dose of Social Media: Tiafoe and Rune recreate Federer-Nadal’s legendary floating court match, WTA stars tease a ‘major change’ in tennis.

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, we revisit the moment when Holger Rune and Frances Tiafoe recreated the iconic rally of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on a floating court. Additionally, WTA stars teased a major change in the Tour, featuring Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Zheng Qinwen.

On the Entertainment side, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov took part in a “Never Have I Ever” Q&A, while Maria Sakkari accepted the ‘Bottle Challenge’ in Merida.

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Frances Tiafoe and Holger Rune rally on floating court ahead of Mexican Open Acapulco

Frances Tiafoe and Holger Rune took part in a unique rally on a floating court as part of the pre-tournament activities at the Mexican Open Acapulco, where both are among the title favourites. The event was reminiscent of the iconic exhibition between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal nearly 15 years ago.

After being transported by boat, the players enjoyed a fun session on the blue court with white lines. The Mexican tournament used the opportunity to promote the brands sponsoring this edition.

This wasn’t the first time a tournament has placed two players on a court floating on water. In 2011, ahead of the ATP 250 event in Doha, Qatar, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal participated in a similar spectacle. Sheikhs arranged for a mini-stadium to be set up in the Persian Gulf, allowing the two best players of the time to rally for a short while. However, playing for more than a few minutes proved impossible due to the unstable conditions.

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WTA stars tease major change in cryptic promotional video

WTA stars appear in cryptic video teasing major change Featuring the biggest names on the Tour, the WTA has released a mysterious video hinting at a significant change, though without revealing any details."Change is coming. It's about to get loud. The wait is almost over. A new era begins soon."

This was the message delivered by players such as Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Zheng Qinwen, and Ons Jabeur, among others.

A new WTA 1000 event? A calendar overhaul? Rule changes? For now, there is no clarity on what the top organisation in women’s tennis is planning, but it certainly seems to be something big. Watch the promotional video below.

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Maria Sakkari takes on the ‘Water Bottle Challenge’ ahead of Merida Open debut

Maria Sakkari took part in a fun “Water Bottle Challenge” video while waiting for her debut at the Mérida Open. The Greek player has previously stated that Mexico is one of her favourite destinations, a country where she claimed her only WTA 1000 title at the Guadalajara Open in 2023, after having reached the final there in 2022.

In the challenge, five bottles of a hydration drink were hidden behind a box while Sakkari attempted to match them with cups containing the corresponding flavours—just by looking at the cups. It wasn’t an easy task for Sakkari, who laughed as she struggled to complete the challenge. Did she manage to do it? Watch the fun moment from Mérida below!

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Pigeon interrupts Dubai Open first-round match

A peculiar moment took place on Monday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Following the conclusion of the WTA 1000 event over the weekend—with Mirra Andreeva crowned as the new champion—the ATP 500 men’s draw kicked off this week. One of the most interesting first-round matches featured Dan Evans against Karen Khachanov.

The Russian secured a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 victory and will face fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round. However, one of the most talked-about moments of the match occurred when play was interrupted by a pigeon.

Mid-rally, the bird flew onto the net and calmly perched there, forcing the chair umpire to stop play and order a replay of the point. The unexpected visitor eventually left the court, allowing the match to continue.

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Baez defends Rio Open title as Muller helps him pop the champagne

The Rio Open final saw Sebastián Báez crowned champion for the second consecutive year, making history as the first player to win the Brazilian tournament more than once. One of the best clay-court players in recent seasons, Báez lived up to his status as the favourite, comfortably defeating France’s Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-3 to successfully defend his title.

During the trophy ceremony, Báez struggled to open a bottle of champagne—part of the traditional post-victory celebrations. That’s when his opponent, Muller, quickly stepped in, took the bottle, opened it with ease, and playfully drenched the champion in a lighthearted moment of sportsmanship. "Helping your opponent properly celebrate," Tennis Channel's official account posted.

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Tsitsipas and Dimitrov jokes in "Never have I ever" game

Stefanos Tsitsipas took part in a lighthearted Q&A session at the Dubai Open, playing the game “Never Have I Ever.” The Greek star showcased his sense of humour while answering some unexpected questions. "Never have I ever been mistaken for someone else," Tsitsipas read aloud at the start of the video. "Absolutely, yesterday I was (Andrey) Rublev," he joked.

The world No. 11 also revealed whether he had ever been hit in a ‘painful area’ by a tennis ball and if he had ever broken something expensive. Tsitsipas kicked off his ATP 500 Dubai Open campaign with a solid victory, defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(4), 6-3 to advance to the second round. Up next, he faces the always-dangerous Karen Khachanov in the last 16.

The Greek wasn’t the only one to take part in the game, as later the ATP posted a video of Grigor Dimitrov playing the same game, though with different questions. The Bulgarian was asked if he had ever lied on a first date.

"It was a long time ago, like ten years ago," said the 33-year-old tennis player. "Somewhere, someone asked us, like, 'What do you do?' And I was like, 'I’m a banker.' So, 'What’s your name?'... I don’t know, like John."

Dimitrov awaits Tuesday's debut against Australian Christopher O'Connell

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