Novak Djokovic jokingly shoots down Matteo Arnaldi over his attempt to copy the Spiderman pose the Serb did at Wimbledon

Matteo Arnaldi lost 5-7, 3-6 to Andrey Rublev in the round of 16 of the 2023 Vienna Open.

Novak Djokovic jokingly shoots down Matteo Arnaldi over his attempt to copy the Spiderman pose the Serb did at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic (L), Matteo Arnaldi (R) (Sources: Scroll/Eurosport)

Italian tennis player Matteo Arnaldi recently performed an unintentional full split at the 2023 Vienna Open during his match against Andrey Rublev and it went viral in no time. The 22-year-old was sure to flex his flexibility and athleticism by sharing it on his Instagram story as well, and there, he also tagged Novak Djokovic, who had done something very similar in the 2021 Wimbledon Open. 

Arnaldi did brilliantly in the first round of the 2023 Vienna Open against Albert Ramos-Vinolas. He won in straight sets in that round and went on to face Rublev in the round of 16. Although he lost against Rublev in straight sets, Matteo Arnaldi played some crazy good shots and showed his athleticism to the world. It was while attempting to return one of Rublev’s shots that Arnaldi accidentally did a full split. 

YouTube video

Fans started comparing Matteo Arnaldi to Spider-man as his posture looked exactly like that of the fictional superhero. The Italian jokingly mentioned Novak Djokovic in the story as well and wrote “@djokernole I’m coming for you.” The Serb responded by resharing his story with the words, “First you need to be facing the net and not the wall. Then we can talk.”

FS Video

Djokovic is widely considered to be one of the most athletic and flexible tennis players in the world and his full split in the 2021 Wimbledon Open was perhaps the best display of his flexibility. That was the first time the Spider-Man comparisons started coming up. Although Matteo Arnaldi did well, fans will always consider Novak Djokovic to be the OG. 

Matteo Arnaldi (L),
Matteo Arnaldi (L); Nole’s Instagram story (R) (Sources: Tennis Majors/ Instagram)

Matteo Arnaldi is a big fan of Novak Djokovic 

Arnaldi faced Djokovic in a training session during the 2022 Italian Open and admitted after the match that he has idolized the Serbian all his life and thus it was an incredible experience for him. 

Novak has always been my idol, and that’s why I entered the field a bit tense. It was an incredible feeling to be able to trade with the # 1 in the world.
Matteo Arnaldi (L), Novak Djokovic (R)
Matteo Arnaldi (L), Novak Djokovic (R) (Sources: ATP Tour, The Telegraph)

Arnaldi also pointed out the detailed and minute aspects, because of which it becomes extremely difficult to beat Novak Djokovic in any match. 

Technically I found him extremely clean compared to the others I have played with up to now. His ball is very flat and you have a hard time playing with it, even on clay. It takes away your time, you can’t do anything you have in mind.

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