"Rafaole is alive";"Roger Federer seeing Rafael Nadal with another man" - Novak Djokovic and the Spaniard's reunion in airplane delights fans

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic delighted their fans after they unexpectedly took the same flight en route to the United States ahead of the Sunshine Double.

The two legends are set to appear at the 2024 Indian Wells Open, and their plans to travel unexpectedly synced up as they took the same flight to reach the United States. Novak Djokovic took to Instagram to share an image with the Spaniard on the airplane.

"Good company on the way to USA," Djokovic captioned the post.

Tennis fans were over the moon to see the reunion and hoped that the two would meet on the court one more time before either of them retires. One fan joked that Roger Federer would be jealous of the selfie, while another said that airplanes should not allow two GOATS to travel together in case something happens.

"Federer seeing Nadal with another man," commented a fan.

"Airlines should update their systems to prevent two GOAT contenders to be on the same flight in case the worst happens," quipped another fan.

"One more match, before one of them retires," a fan wrote.

"Novak personally checks so that Rafa does not run away from the hard court tournament again," another fan tweeted.

Here are more fan reactions to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal's latest picture:

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic last met on court at Roland Garros 2022

Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have played against each other on the ATP Tour a staggering 59 times. They last fought it out in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Roland Garros, in which the Spaniard emerged triumphant in a four-setter. Djokovic holds the slightest edge on head-to-head, 30-29.

Their next meeting could very well come at the Indian Wells Open in March, as the Serb will be the top seed, and the Spaniard will enter the main draw via protected ranking. Their last match in Tennis Paradise came in 2016 when Djokovic defeated the man from Mallorca in the semifinals.

Rafael Nadal has only played one tournament in 2024, the Brisbane International, which was his first ATP Tour event in nearly a year. He defeated Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler before losing to Jordan Thompson in Brisbane.

Unfortunately, the 22-time Grand Slam champion suffered an injury in Brisbane that forced him to withdraw from the Australian Open and miss the Middle East swing.

As for Djokovic, he last played at the 2024 Australian Open. He was the defending champion but lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinal in Melbourne. This was his only tournament so far on the 2024 ATP Tour.