"Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic out here doing side quests now" - Tennis fans amused as Spaniard and Serb take to swimming and skiing

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have been enjoying their downtime from tennis, taking to swimming and skiing respectively. Their fans were amused at this change-up, going by their reactions on social media.

Nadal and Djokovic are scheduled to play at the Indian Wells Masters in March. They were gearing up for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in interesting ways this week. While the Spaniard was in his home country testing his lung capacity through swimming training, the Serb was working on his balance by going back to skiing during his vacation in Italy.

Fans subsequently had a field day when both players' excursions surfaced on X (formerly Twitter). Journalist Bastien Fachan insisted that Nadal and Djokovic had such complete resumes in tennis that they were now doing "side quests" in other sports.

"Nadal and Djokovic out here doing side quests now," Fachan wrote.

Another fan joked that Rafael Nadal will be competing in both tennis and swimming events at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"BREAKING: Rafael Nadal announced he will be competing for a medal in both tennis and swimming at the 2024 Olympics," they wrote.

Here are a few more reactions from the tennis community on social media:

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Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic set to return to Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal has a 1-3 win/loss record against his Serbiam rival in Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were recently confirmed for the 2024 Indian Wells Masters, which begins on March 15. Nadal and Djokovic haven't made an appearance in Palm Springs since 2022 and 2019 respectively, in what were unsuccessful campaigns for both players.

While Rafael Nadal picked up a rib injury during his championship-match defeat to Taylor Fritz in 2022, Novak Djokovic suffered an upset against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round in 2019. Having said that, both players have enjoyed immense success at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Nadal and Djokovic have won the Indian Wells title in eight of the 10 editions between 2007 and 2016. The Spaniard took home the trophy in 2007, 2009, and 2013, while the Serb reigned supreme in 2008, 2011 and from 2014 to 2016.

Having said that, both players find themselves in starkly different trajectories this season. While Djokovic is the top-ranked player on the ATP Tour, Nadal is placed at a lowly 647. The two players could face each other in the early rounds of the 1000-level event.