Swiss superstar Roger Federer is deemed by many to be greatest of all time when it comes to tennis records and accolades, but can he add the title of King of Social Media to his list of achievements?
Tennis Frontier went on a fact-finding mission to see which players were rocking the realm of Cyberspace with social media followings. We checked out the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram followings of the major players. Overall figures are shown in brackets.
No.10 David Ferrer (Followers: 1,562,114)
The diminutive Spanish baseliner, David Ferrer has utilised Twitter well, engaging the public and boasts a whopping 1.15 million followers on that channel (down from a high of 1.4 million). Ferrer has also tapped into Facebook but his numbers are negated by a pretty meagre Instagram footprint.
Facebook: 399,414
Twitter: 1,150,000
Instagram: 12,700
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No.9 Kei Nishikori (1,905,105)
Nishikori is a huge name in Japan and the likelihood is that he has his own huge following on Japanese social media channels, but in terms of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, he weighs in at Number 9 on the list with just under 2 million followers.
Facebook: 682,105
Twitter: 888,000
Instagram: 335,000
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No.8 Grigor Dimitrov (1,923,449)
Baby Fed has never quite lived up to his strapline on the court, but Grigor Dimitrov boasts the 8th largest social media following in men’s tennis. Dimitrov didn’t have an Instagram presence a couple of years ago but made up for lost time and now boasts a healthy following of 768,000 followers on that medium alone.
Facebook: 698,449
Twitter: 457,000
Instagram: 768, 000
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No.7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2,294,956)
Tsonga is a likable fellow and this is reflected in his social media statistics. Good followings on Facebook and Twitter didn’t stop the Frenchman tapping into Instagram to boost his online profile.
Facebook: 824,956
Twitter: 989,000
Instagram: 481,000
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No.6 Stan Wawrinka (3,338,388)
The Swiss star and three-time major winner has leveraged his success into building a social media following approaching three and a half million followers. Wawrinka has successfully tapped into the younger demographic, boasting a healthy 847,000 followers on Instagram.
Facebook: 751,388
Twitter: 1,740,000
Instagram: 847,000
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No.5 Juan Martin Del Potro (7,005,616)
Del Potro wasn’t in the Top 10 two years ago when it came to social media followings. Either his PR team is doing something well, or fans are piggybacking his resurgence to relevance. The truth is likely somewhere in between. Either way, Delpo has over 7 million followers – more than twice the number of Stan Wawrinka, who is only one place further back.
Facebook: 2,085,616
Twitter: 3,320,000
Instagram: 1,600,000
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No.4 Andy Murray (8,872,243)
Murray was an early advocate of social media, particularly Twitter, and now boasts a healthy 8.8 million+ followers across the major channels.
Facebook: 3,752,243
Twitter: 3,720,000
Instagram: 1,400,000
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No.3 Novak Djokovic (19,447,035)
Photo by Marianne Bevis 
Former World Number One and iconic Serb, Novak Djokovic boats a staggering 19 million+ following, a huge increase on #4 Andy Murray.
Facebook: 7,157,035
Twitter: 8,490,000
Instagram: 3,800,000
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No.2 Roger Federer (32,294,374)
Photo by Marianne Bevis
Arguably, the greatest player to pick up a tennis racquet, Roger Federer ranks #2 on our social media list with a whopping 32 million+ followers. Federer leads the sport on Instagram and Facebook followers. Despite joining Twitter less than two years ago, he has amassed a staggering 12.4 million fans. Such figures transcend the sport, yet he still falls marginally short of his long-term rival, Rafael Nadal
Facebook: 15,094,374
Twitter: 12,400,000
Instagram: 4,800,000
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No.1 Rafael Nadal (34,745,623)
Photo by Marianne Bevis
The Spanish Bull boasts a staggering following of nearly 35 million and ranks #1 among active male tennis players. Nadal was an early advocate of Twitter but took to Facebook fairly late. He is second to Federer on Facebook and Instagram but his Twitter following propels him above the Swiss in the overall count. Nadal holds the GOAT title of social media.
Facebook: 14,645,623
Twitter: 15,600,000
Instagram: 4,500,000
Photo by Marianne Bevis
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