“When he introduced himself, any Serb would get scared” - Novak Djokovic’s unexpected meeting with Indian minister M. K. Stalin amuses tennis fans

Novak Djokovic's unexpected encounter with India's Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin has amused tennis fans on the internet.

Djokovic bumped into Stalin, who is the Chief Minister of India's southernmost state Tamil Nadu, onboard a flight to Spain on Monday, January 29. Stalin was headed to Madrid for an investors' conference, whereas the Serb was on his way home after participating in the Australian Open 2024.

Stalin took to X (formerly Twitter) to post about his meeting with the Serb.

"Surprise in the skies: Met tennis legend @DjokerNole en route to Spain," he wrote.

Tennis buffs on X were amazed at the sight of the duo being in one frame.

"Woah, that's some crossover, lol," a fan wrote.

Another fan also expressed their surprise at the meeting.

"Wow, lucky encounter," they wrote.

On seeing the Serb with India's Stalin, a third fan hinted at the political struggle between Soviet Union's Premier Joseph Stalin and Yugoslavia's President Josip Broz Tito after the Second World War.

"When he introduced himself: "I'm Stalin...” Any Serbian [Serb] would get scared," the fan tweeted.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia came into existence in 1945 with the amalgamation of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. In 1992, however, it was dissolved and split into its constituent territories.

Here are a few more reactions from fans on X:

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"Novak Djokovic by far the greatest of all time" - Leander Paes

Novak Djokovic

Indian tennis icon Leander Paes recently stated that Novak Djokovic is the greatest player in the history of tennis. Paes competed professionally between 1991 and 2021 and won a total of ten mixed-doubles and eight doubles Grand Slam titles.

During an interaction with the media in Mumbai, India, Paes suggested that players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal pushed the benchmarks higher with their tennis, but Djokovic had outclassed everyone.

"I started playing when [Bjorn] Borg and [John] McEnroe were still playing, and no one ever thought that Borg’s five Wimbledon record could be beaten. Until Federer came around and he won eight Wimbledons and 20 Grand Slams. And then Nadal bettered Federer's Grand Slam record, by winning 22, and winning 14 titles at the French Open alone," he said.

Paes stated that the statistics were unequivocally in the Serb's favour.

"And then out comes Novak. This Serbian boy who is a great athlete with a phenomenal mind - for me, by far the greatest of all time. Why? Because the history books show that. He has won 24 Grand Slams and counting…it doesn’t look like he’s stopping. This is insane."