Novak Djokovic gifted his racquet to a young fan after winning Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic won hearts when he gifted his racquet to a young fan in the stands after winning Wimbledon. Djokovic won a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title and his sixth Wimbledon title on Sunday with a four-set victory over Matteo Berrettini of Italy. After the final, the Serbian tennis player was spotted walking over to a girl in the stands and handing his racquet to her. According to Yahoo News, the young fan had been cheering for Djokovic throughout the final. She had even carried a hand-made placard for her favourite player which featured an acrostic made out of his first name.
In a video shared by Wimbledon on Instagram, the ace tennis player can be seen running over to the girl and gifting his match-winning racquet to her. This happened during the trophy presentation ceremony, after Djokovic completed his speech. As he posed for the cameras, the tennis player spotted the young fan and sprinted over to her with his racquet.
Watch the now-viral video below:
The video has been viewed a whopping 2.6 million times on Instagram, with hundreds of viewers praising Djokovic for the thoughtful gesture.
The sweet moment was also captured in a series of photographs that Wimbledon shared on Instagram with the caption "11/10 wholesome." Take a look:
The Telegraph later identified the young fan as seven-year-old Ivanka Li, a keen tennis player herself who was "bursting with joy" after receiving Djokovic's tennis racquet.
"It was the first time my daughter had been to a Wimbledon final. It was the first time she had seen him," said Ivanka's mother. "I wish the racket brings luck to her so one day she could be at Wimbledon and maybe be like Emma. She absolutely loves tennis."
During last month's French Open, too, Novak Djokovic had handed his racquet to a young fan in the audience. "He was encouraging me. He was actually giving me tactics, as well," said Djokovic after the win.
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