There’s a lot to unpack here.
The annual ATP Tour finals photo has turned into a farce with fans mocking the 2023 line up — and the fashion on display.
The season-ending event begins in Turin on Sunday night — and the traditional photo featuring the best eight players on the planet alongside each other took a different approach.
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The image has traditionally featured the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal dressed up in suits and formal attire, but recent years have shifted to a more casual style,
It’s fair to say, in the eyes of many, the players took things a bit too casually this time.
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas’ bold poncho look has understandably attracted plenty of negative feedback, while almost everything about Holger Rune’s ensemble seems to have fallen foul of fans.
The biggest talking point, however, has become Novak Djokovic’s look — after he turned up wearing trainers, casual jeans and a varsity sports jacket.
The price of the Lacoste jacket worn by Djokovic retails at around $1500.
That doesn’t mean it was the right choice for the 36-year-old.
It is in fact the 24-time grand slam champion’s age that stands out the most about the photo.
Fans across Twitter and Reddit have all been making the same jokes around the world about Djokovic looking out of place surrounded by the so-called “next gen”.
Daniil Medvedev, 27, is the eldest of the rest of the bunch, with Carlos Alcaraz, 20, and Holger Rune, 20, looking like they could be Djokovic’s children.
Fans were not kind when pointing out how Djokovic’s age stands out.
“Why does Djokovic insist on dressing like a teenager,” one fan posted on Twitter.
Another reddit user posted: “Djokovic be like, ‘how do you do, fellow kids’”.
One commented that Djokovic looks like he is having a mid-life crisis, while another said the photo makes it look like the Serbian superstar is on a field trip with his children.
Fortunately for him there were plenty of other catastrophic fashion statements going on around him to deflect some of the attention.
One fan posted on reddit German Alexander Zverev looks like he should “join Slytherin” because of his slick hair cut.
Zverev and Andrey Rublev both came under fire with suggestions their ensembles made them look like the next “Bond villain”.
Rune, pictured on the far left of the photo, also got hit with suggestions he looks like “a dad about to rake some leaves in the front yard”.
Perhaps the biggest complaint has centred around the shift away from the formal attire the annual photo has previously been remembered for.
Photos of Federer and Nadal dressed to the nines have been warmly received by fans previously, but the times are changing.
The iconic photo captured from the 2009 Tour finals in London suddenly seems a very long time ago.
“What happened to fancy suits,” one fan posted.
“This is atrocious.”
Djokovic will take on Jannik Sinner, Tsitsipas and Rune in the group stage of the event as he chases a seventh season-ending triumph.
Title holder Djokovic is looking to cap another memorable year in which he has won three Grand Slams, taking his tally to an all-time record of 24, and leads the Green Group.
The 36-year-old comes into the tournament, which runs over November 12-19 in Turin, on a high after claiming a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title.
Victory in the French capital, where he also won this year at Roland Garros, was his 40th Masters 1000 title and stretched his winning run to 18 matches.
In the other group, world number two Alcaraz faces Medvedev, Rublev and Zverev and will be hoping to put on a better show than he did in Paris as he makes his Finals debut.
— with AFP