Lady golfers' enthusiastic Caitlin Clark reception leaves WNBA fans in splits - "Convinced LPGA is trolling"

Caitlin Clark's successful LPGA debut on all fronts, especially drawing eyeballs to women's golf, has lady golfers hailing the Indiana Fever star's impact. Golf stars Alex Pano and Rose Zhang were the latest to compliment Clark for her career and impact on women's sports.

"Yeah, I'm a massive Caitlin Clark fan," Pano said on Friday. "I love basketball but especially her. I tried to sneak in and come see her before my pro-am on Wednesday but that didn't really happen. I'm a little bummed about that, but maybe next year."

Meanwhile, Zhang pointed out that she's drawing inspiration from Clark's ability to lock out the noise surrounding her amid the controversies.

"I've taken a lot of inspiration from her ... Her ability to block out things and with everything that's happening in the WNBA, surrounding her, she's able to handle it so well."

Caitlin Clark's debut WNBA season brought tremendous viewership to the league. However, several veteran and former athletes didn't acknowledge the WNBA's growth that came with Clark. Instead, many overshadowed it by blaming her and the Indiana Fever's fanbase for the racism some players endured and the negativity that came with it.

WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes and other media members tried to diminish her value in various ways, but Clark remained unfazed and delivered as expected. She won the Rookie of the Year for her exploits and finished four in the MVP race, averaging 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists, shooting 41.7%, including 34.4% from 3.

After Alex Pano and Rose Zhang's comments on Caitlin Clark surfaced online, WNBA fans mocked the league for not talking about the Fever star in a similar fashion.

One fan wrote:

"Ok… I’m convinced the LPGA is just trolling the #WNBA at this point."

"Maybe this is the impetus the W needs to take their heads out of their a**es," added another.

"The way every league embraces her EXCEPT the wnba is diabolical," one user said.

"Loving it. A professional tennis player said she’d pick Caitlin to play tennis with her any day. I missed the tennis players name," one fan said.

"Oh yeah without doubt and you've gotta love it," another added.

"It’s shameful the media couldn’t do right by Caitlin Clark causing so many women millions smh," one fan wrote.

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Caitlin Clark gets love from the tennis world after her LPGA exploits

Caitlin Clark continues to make waves across the global sports landscape. After the love she got from the LPGA, Clark was in the spotlight among tennis fans after American player Caroline Dolehide said she would pick the Fever star as her doubles partner from another sport during an interview released Friday by Billie Jean King's Cup's X profile.

“I would pick Caitlin Clark to be my doubles partner from another sport. I think that would be really fun, I think there would be a massive crowd behind us. And I would love to see her play some tennis.”

With the WNBA having a long offseason, Clark could continue her offseason adventures in other sports. Perhaps a guest appearance at a tennis event, similar to her LPGA debut, could be on the cards if everything goes according to plan.