Novak Djokovic finds unexpected visitors in Lionel Messi, his wife Antonela Roccuzzo & Venus Williams at Miami Open SF

Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi, his wife Antonela Roccuzzo, and Venus Williams attended the blockbuster Miami Open semifinal between Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov. Messi, who is currently playing for the MLS club Inter Miami CF, decided to take a breather with some enthralling tennis.

Fourth seed Djokovic and 14th seed Dimitrov received a bye in the opening round as a result of their respective seedings. The Serb ousted Rinky Hijikata, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, 15th seed Lorenzo Musetti, and 24th seed Sebastian Korda, while the Bulgarian defeated Federico Cina, 22nd seed Karen Khachanov, 31st seed Brandon Nakashima, and 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo.

The two men set up the oldest Masters 1000 semifinal match in ATP history, and their blockbuster clash was attended by one of the all-time greats of soccer, Lionel Messi, his wife Antonela Roccuzzo, and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.

The Serb has always held the soccer legend in high regard and expressed his admiration for his character back in 2022.

“I admire Lionel Messi and respect him a lot” - When Novak Djokovic opened up about the Argentinian legend

Novak Djokovic - Source: Getty

While competing at the 2022 World Tennis League exhibition, which happened after the FIFA World Cup, Novak Djokovic expressed his admiration for Lionel Messi, saying that he was happy the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner finally had his hands on the most prestigious prize in football.

“As a sports fan, as a football fan, of course I admire Messi and respect him a lot. I think most of the world is happy with his achievement and what he has managed to do,” Djokovic said.

He then praised the Argentinian's character for still being down to heart despite his colossal success.

“Him being humble, a down to earth guy, not taken away by success. All these years is something I feel like serves as a great example to all the children that look up to him, they want to be like him.”

On the tennis side, though the 24-time Major champion had said that his semifinal match against Dimitrov would be the ‘toughest match’ of his Miami Open campaign, the Serb decimated the Bulgarian 6-2, 6-3 in just an hour and 10 minutes to reach the 60th Masters 1000 final of his career.

He will be looking to win a record-extending 41st Masters 1000 and a milestone 100th career title in the final of the Miami Open against the winner of the third seed Taylor Fritz vs Jakub Mensik. Interestingly, Mensik's idol is the Serb.