Naomi Osaka’s social media following almost doubled in 2020, but she still has a long way to go to match the fan-bases built by the sport’s Big Four.
That illustrious quartet – Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – each have more than 25 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook combined.
These more established channels attract the most fans and are where we focused, yet more recently Snapchat and TikTok have surged, as have platforms within platforms – Instagram and Facebook stories, Instagram reels and Twitter fleets – where players post some of their most engaging content.
December adventures ? ⛰ ? ?️ ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/KznlMpcgeI
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) December 21, 2020
TikTok, embraced almost exclusively by young female players, is where Osaka and Coco Gauff have thrived, and it could be on newer channels such as these where emerging superstars begin to rein in the Big Four.
However, few things match sustained on-court success in building a large social media following, as Nadal can attest; he won an incredible 13th Roland Garros title in October and by mid-November had climbed above 40 million followers – the highest number of any active tennis player.
Exceptions to the rule
Although Grand Slam victories translate to large numbers of fans on social media – 11 of the top 15 most-followed players have won major singles titles – this is not always the case.
As the most successful female player in the history of a nation whose population exceeds 1 billion, Sania Mirza’s following exceeds 28 million, more than every player except Nadal, Federer and Serena. Yet in singles, the Indian star never progressed beyond the last 16 at a Slam nor cracked the top 25.
Eugenie Bouchard has amassed almost 5.5 million followers to become the eighth most-popular player on social media, putting her ahead of multiple major champions Osaka, Venus Williams, Stan Wawrinka, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza.
Nick Kyrgios, at 14th, is the highest male player on the list without a major title. Although he is yet to reach the top 10, he has more followers than Dominic Thiem, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas – all players who have cracked the top five.
Bouchard and Kyrgios may not have scaled the on-court heights of many of their rivals, but their achievements – Bouchard is a former Grand Slam finalist and top-five player, Kyrgios a victor over Nadal, Federer and Djokovic – and transcendent personalities have made them fan favourites.
Osaka’s explosion
“Transcendent” is an adjective also applicable to Osaka.
In late February, just before tennis’s pandemic-related suspension, her following was at 1.76 million. After months of increasing political activism, plus another US Open title, that number had swelled to more than 3 million in November.
In that same span, she became the highest female annual earner in sporting history, and has since been named one of Sports Illustrated’s Sportspeople of the Year.
Notably, there has been a distinct change in the tone of Osaka’s social media presence in 2020, particularly on Twitter.
After tweeting in May that “I’m done being shy”, she followed up in December with: “Note to my introverted 13-year-old self: in about 10 years you’re finally going to open your mouth and it will trigger more people than you could’ve ever imagined.”
Big Four reign
While Osaka’s social media growth has vaulted the Japanese star from 19th (February) to 13th (November) on the list of most-followed players, her numbers remain well below those at the top of the list.
And, despite limited on-court activity in 2020, Nadal, Federer, Williams and Djokovic were still able to significantly boost their followings.
In Federer’s case, he didn’t play at all after the Australian Open, and posts fairly infrequently, but amassed an extra 1.6 million followers to take his total to 35.5 million, helped by viral moments like his trick shots in the snow, his solo volley drill, and a congratulatory message to Nadal – the only active player with more followers.
Third on the list is Williams, who increased her following by 1.4 million and has a fan-base extending well beyond the sporting realm. Almost 30 million people follow her channels which are a full lifestyle experience featuring fashion, cooking, motherhood, workouts, magazine shoots and beauty tips, plus some tennis.
While she played just four events post-covid, Djokovic played six, making him the most active of the Big Four in 2020. He also increased his following the most, gathering 3.3 million new fans during a turbulent season to reach almost 26 million in November.
Different platforms, different fan-bases
When analysing each social media platform in isolation, the rankings change dramatically.
Instagram skews younger, and female – it’s where Serena Williams becomes the most followed tennis player (nearing 13 million followers, ahead of Nadal and Federer) and where five of the top-10 most followed players are women.
It’s also where newer stars Thiem, Kyrgios and Zverev have amassed the largest chunk of their fan-bases; in Zverev’s case, his followings on Twitter and Facebook don’t even reach six figures, despite more than 1 million on Instagram.
On the flip-side, 12 of the 13 most-followed players on Twitter are older than 30. More established stars like Azarenka, Nishikori and Tsonga are all in the top 15 based on Twitter numbers, but fall outside the top 20 when ranked by Instagram following.