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Fans recently hit out at Tennis Channel for excluding former champions like Elena Rybakina and Rafael Nadal from their custom promotional poster for the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The first leg of the Sunshine Double is scheduled to run from March 6 to 17. To generate excitement around the event, Tennis Channel, an American sports network, shared a poster featuring Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
The design was also quite interesting, as the top players' faces were photoshopped onto the bodies of the Fremen from Denis Villeneuve's Dune. However, the Tennis Channel's idea failed to resonate much with the tennis community on social media.
Many fans on X (formerly Twitter) pointed out a seemingly glaring mistake that they made — not including Elena Rybakina (2023 champion) and Rafael Nadal (three-time Indian Wells winner) in the design.
One user even went as far as to call the poster "shameful" for not featuring Nadal, writing:
"You’ve got to be kidding. No Rafa??? Shameful."
Another fan was equally unhappy about Rybakina not being included, and they wrote:
"Oh, so we just not gonna have the defending champ (Rybakina) in this? ok cool."
The likes of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul making it on the poster, meanwhile, didn't sit well with a Rybakina fan, who wrote:
"Leaving the defending champion off of this and putting Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz on it instead is definitely a Choice."
Here are a few more reactions from tennis fans on X:
Elena Rybakina's omission recognized by American broadcasters as they post hilarious bingo card
Tennis Channel wilted under the negative reception of their Dune-inspired poster shortly afterwards. They took to their X handle to post a 3-by-3 bingo card that listed some of their artistic blunders in the design.
The grid included their omission of Elena Rybakina, Rafael Nadal, and the reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner. Moreover, they also admitted that they could've placed Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek in a better position in the design.
Rybakina will be seeded fourth at the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. The 24-year-old had a scintillating campaign at the Palm Springs event last year, downing World No. 1 Swiatek and World No. 2 Sabalenka in back-to-back matches to secure her maiden 1000-level title.
