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ith the COVID-19 pandemic having ended hopes of the final edition of the ATP Finals, tennis fans have taken to social media to follow and engage with their favourite players.
While the event’s departure to Turin in 2021 means that London will no longer be able to facilitate the season-ending event, there is still hope that it may take place as the WTA’s equivalent will not be taking place this year.
Despite this, the tennis world has shifted its focus to growing its social media following and engagement in preparation for the 2021 season.
The ATP Facebook page checks in with 3.1 million followers, Instagram at 1.9 million, and Twitter at 1.6 million, while the ATP YouTube channel has only 338k subscribers.
A 26.2% increase in Facebook numbers was experienced as of November 6th, presumably due to the lead up of the tournament, engagements per video also increased during this time.
Current world number one, Serbian-born, Novak Djokovic, currently has 6.9 million Facebook fans, 7.8 million on Instagram, 8.7 million on Twitter, and only 59.9k on YouTube.
In spite of his large following, the 81-time ATP singles winner only manages to rake in an engagement rate of 0.39%.
World number two, Spanish-born, Rafael Nadal, in comparison currently has a Facebook following of 14.2 million, an Instagram following of 10.1 million, and 15.7 million on Twitter.
Despite his lower following and not having a YouTube account, the 20-time Grand-Slam winner still manages an engagement rate per post of 186,200, four times more than Djokovic.
Nadal posted 51 times in the last 30 days, and his engagement on social media may be attributed to his consistency.
Austrian-born world number three, Dominic Thiem, has a Facebook following of 343k, an Instagram following of 1.3 million, 228.6k on Twitter, and 43.6k on YouTube.
The US Open champion sits third in cross-platform engagement, despite being well behind Nadal and Djokovic.
Indian tennis player, Sania Mirza, currently holds the place for the most followed women’s tennis player, with a total following of 30 million, followed by Serena Williams at 28.8 million, and Maria Sharapova at 26.6 million.
Following the cancellation of Wimbledon, the ATP Finals is the largest tournament to be held in London in 2020, the WTA’s equivalent however, will not be held this year.