Lil Wayne, an Ostapenko fan? and more viral moments of 2024

The 2024 Hologic WTA Tour season was full of historic victories, big breakthroughs and memorable moments. But some of the important stories weren’t written between the lines: Today, we’re looking back at some of our favorite viral social media moments of the season.

From Jelena Ostapenko’s Grammy Award-winning super fan and Team USA’s star-studded selfie tour at the Paris Olympics, to the candor of Caroline Garcia and Naomi Osaka, here are some posts that got the tour talking over the last year.

Sit back, log on and enjoy.

Lil Wayne is Jelena Ostapenko’s biggest fan

It’s no secret that the stars of the Hologic WTA Tour have equally-famous fans, with A-listers including Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Tom Cruise all attending tournaments in the last year. But the most surprising celebrity crossover was between Jelena Ostapenko and the rapper Lil Wayne, who expressed his affinity for the Latvian multiple times in 2024.

Ostapenko first revealed her fandom for the man they call Weezy (who has famously been a tennis fan in his own right for decades) in an interview with Tennis Channel in the spring, where she said she enjoyed the five-time Grammy winner’s cameo appearance at a Drake concert she attended.

Months later, he responded, thanking Ostapenko for the “luv” by reposting the aforementioned interview to his Instagram story, and continued to follow the 2017 Roland Garros winner’s results throughout the year. That included several posts on X, formerly Twitter, by the artist — whose legal name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. — and even a direct message to Ostapenko where he showed his appreciation to her directly.

The famously-hard to impress Ostapenko was, admittedly, star struck — even if Carter ultimately wasn’t able to take her up on the offer to cheer her on in person at the US Open.

“He has like 19 million followers on Instagram, and when I saw this for the first time I was like ‘Wow, he saw it and he’s aware of it.’ It’s unbelievable,” Ostapenko said at Wimbledon.

“He also sent me a message saying that he’s a big fan of me as well. So for me, that was like … I was staring at my phone. I stopped and I was staring at my phone for like five minutes. I couldn’t believe Lil Wayne texted me. I mean, it’s amazing.”

Is Aryna Sabalenka the World No.1 on TikTok, too?

Aryna Sabalenka’s ascent back to the top of the PIF WTA Rankings came thanks to a commanding season where she won two Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open and US Open. But is the 26-year-old also the tour’s leader in another performance metric: amount of TikTok dances?

Sabalenka’s affinity for the platform appeared more than once in 2024so much so that she even quipped ahead of competing at the year’s last major in New York that her summer consisted of “a lot of hard work and a little bit of TikTok.”

Sabalenka’s co-stars typically included her team, anchored by traveling coaches Anton Dubrov and physio Jason Stacy, but she saved one of her best cameo appearances for the waning days of the season. As she and Iga Swiatek got ready to go head-to-head for the year-end No.1 ranking, the pair’s on-court rivalry took a backseat as Swiatek joined Sabalenka for a pre-event video.

But that wasn’t the only viral moment authored by Sabalenka in 2024. On her way to the US Open title, she had not one, but two.

First was the heartwarming interaction between Sabalenka and a young fan dressed in her likeness — complete with matching Nike tennis dress and tiger “tattoo” — after Sabalenka defeated Lucia Bronzetti inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“It was really adorable moment,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “I just looked up, and I saw on the big screen, like, mini me! It was so cute.

“That’s the first time I see someone dress up the same as me and having little tattoo and little tiger. How cute is that?”

Three rounds later, Sabalenka made a deal to win over more than 20,000 — much older — fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium: Cheer for me against home favorite Emma Navarro in the semifinals, and a round of drinks are on me.

What’s next for Sabalenka — on court or online — in 2025?

Coco Gauff and Team USA’s excellent Olympic adventure

Before she became the youngest woman to win the WTA Finals in two decades, Coco Gauff had another milestone moment over the summer when she was selected as Team USA’s flag bearer for the Paris Olympic opening ceremony.

While standing alongside LeBron James, and elected via a vote of her fellow athletes by virtue of being nominated by ATP player Christopher Eubanks, Gauff was more than happy to share a host of snapshots — and she was a popular ask for a photo amongst her fellow athletes. Track stars Sha’carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, hooper A’ja Wilson and rugby player Ilona Maher were just some of the other Team USA members who took their photo with Gauff as the opening ceremony floated down the Seine river.

Gauff’s fellow American teammates — Danielle Collins, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro and Desirae Krawczyk — got in on the fun, too, and shared their own selfie collections with other superstars including Steph Curry and Katie Ledecky.

But they were perhaps most thrilled to take a photo with actor-and-rapper Snoop Dogg, who was employed by NBC as a special correspondent for the Games. From watching Gauff play seated with Billie Jean King, to posing with the rest of the American tennis contingent, the 53-year-old hip-hop legend was an honorary member of Team USA.

Caroline Garcia and Naomi Osaka speak from the heart

Players often use social media to give fans an inside look at what they might not see just by watching them compete: glimpses at trainings, vacations, and families, just to name a few. But Caroline Garcia and Naomi Osaka both gave their followers something truly candid in 2024, repeatedly speaking from the heart about how they were feeling about their respective seasons.

Osaka’s return to the tour from maternity leave saw her speak with candor about getting back in shape after giving birth to her first childdaughter Shai, last July — and just how hard returning to a world-class playing level is. After losing in qualifying of the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open, her first appearance in qualifying in six years, Osaka posted a particularly long reflection that nonetheless ended on an optimistic note.

At season’s end, former World No.4 Caroline Garcia also spoke openly about an up-and-down 2024 season, which ended prematurely as a result of a shoulder injury. After sharing the lows of anxiety, pressure and a self-described “toxic” mindsetGarcia, too, finished on a high note. She shared last week that her chief motivator in 2025 will be finding “joy” on court.

“I want to discover what it means to play for me—to chase my own goals, to find my own reasons, to finally uncover the joy in being a tennis player,” she confessed. “To not let others define me.

“I don’t want winning a Grand Slam or returning to the top 5 to be my goal anymore. I want those achievements to be the outcome—the result of being happy, working hard, and continuously improving as a player and a person.”

Was Barbora Krejcikova’s Wimbledon foretold by an X user?

Barbora Krejcikova’s second Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in July was equal parts emotional — as she matched the achievement of her late mentor Jana Novotna — and unexpected, as it came on the heels of a long run of injuries and illness.

But was it written in the stars? Nearly 24 hours before the women’s singles draw was even released at SW19, a user on X, formerly Twitter, predicted that the player who drew Veronika Kudermetova in the first round would go on to win it all.

That player turned out to be Krejcikova: Seeded No.31, she defeated the former World No.9 in a tense three setter, and you know the rest.

Five subsequent victories, over the likes of No. 11 seed Danielle Collins, No. 13 seed Ostapenko, and No. 4 seed and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, put Krejcikova in the final, where she defeated Jasmine Paolini in three sets.

Whether foretold or hard-fought, there’s no doubt that Krejcikova’s Wimbledon win was well-earned, and a run etched in tennis history.

(Take it from another social-media user, who found out firsthand.)

Jasmine Paolini (finally!) gets her selfie with Rafael Nadal

Two legends of men’s tennis retired from the sport in 2024, with Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal both playing their final matches at Wimbledon and the Davis Cup Finals, respectively. While WTA stars shared countless memories about playing alongside, or being inspired by, two surefire Hall of Famers, the final days of Nadal’s career took on special urgency for Jasmine Paolini.

Paolini confessed at the Olympics that getting a selfie with the Spaniard — adding to photos she already had with Nadal’s longtime rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer — was a goal on par with winning a medal. Though she achieved the latter (gold, with Sara Errani in doubles), she fell short of immortalizing a moment in time with Nadal — and time became of the essence when he announced in October that November’s Davis Cup Finals would be his last event.

Until, that is, the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga came around in November — held, for the first time, at the same venue with the Davis Cup Finals. First, Paolini took a selfie around Nadal, with the Spaniard training in the background, and before leading Italy to its first Billie Jean King Cup since 2013, she achieved her goal on what turned out to be the last day of Nadal’s career.

“Wishing you all the best as you close out this incredible career and head into the next chapter, may it be filled with as much joy, health, and success as you’ve given to all of us!!” she wrote with the frame-worthy snapshot. “Thank you for everything, legend!”