"Closest Rafael Nadal can get to a win against Novak Djokovic outside clay" - Fans hilariously react to Sumit Nagal defeating Dennis Novak at HPP Open

Sumit Nagal's victory over Dennis Novak at the 2023 HPP Open has prompted tennis fans to hilariously draw parallels to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, due to the striking similarity in their names.

Nagal recently squared off against Novak in the opening round of the Challenger event in Helsinki. The Indian claimed a commanding 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Tennis writer Bastien Fachan humorously referred to Nagal's victory on a hardcourt as breaking news, seemingly making a reference to Rafael Nadal's 7-20 record against Novak Djokovic on hardcourts.

"Breaking: Nagal defeats Novak on hardcourt," he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The closeness in the names led several fans to jokingly suggest that this was as close as Nadal would get to defeating Djokovic on a hardcourt. The jest was based on the fact that the Spaniard's last victory over the Serb on the surface was a decade ago, in the 2013 US Open final.

"The closest Nadal can get to a win against Novak outside clay," a fan commented.

"That's the closest you'll ever get to Rafa winning a set off of Novak on a hard court," another fan chimed in.

One fan humorously pointed out that changing one letter in Nagal's name to make it read 'Nadal' would sent the entire tennis community on social media into a frenzy.

"Change one letter, start a tennis twitter uproar," the fan commented.

Here are a few more fan reactions:

"If it goes on 2-3 years, Novak Djokovic runs the risk of not only overtaking but even overwhelming Roger Federer & Rafael Nadal" - Tennis commentator

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has had an exceptional season in 2023. He became the player with the most Major titles in the Open Era when he clinched his 24th Grand Slam title at the US Open. The Serb has now secured a sizeable lead over his arch-rivals, Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (22), in the Majors tally.

With his recent triumph at the Paris Masters, Djokovic also recorded his 40th ATP Masters title. That extended his lead over Nadal, who holds 36 titles at the Masters level, to four.

Tennis commentator Guido Monaco recently praised Djokovic's impressive title count and suggested that if he continues to perform at this level in the coming years, he would not only "overtake" Federer and Nadal but also "overwhelm" them.

"It's easy to say that sporting results aren't everything. Of course, there is also elegance, behavior, the example you can give, how much charity you do, what image you give of the athlete, how much you have done for tennis and much more, but sports titles are those for which these phenomena are they [second to]," Guido Monaco said, as quoted by OASport.

"We must give due weight to these results. If it goes on like this for 2-3 years, he runs the risk of not only overtaking but even overwhelming [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal," he added.

Novak Djokovic will be in action at the ATP Finals next. He will attempt to break Federer's record of six titles at the year-end championships, having equaled the Swiss last year with his victory in Turin, Italy.