Russian tennis champion Maria Sharapova revealed how Novak Djokovic was probably "fanboying" over her when the two went for dinner for the first time.
Sharing the story with fans on Instagram live, the recently retired WTA star said that she had met the Serbian sports star several years ago for an exhibition match.
"I was young, you were young, way before you had any Grand Slam titles. I don't know if you'd even won a tournament at that point," said Sharapova.
According to her, Djokovic had said that she would have to buy him dinner if he managed to defeat her.
"I was like, 'Okay, whatever, who is this kid?'" said Sharapova. But Djoker went on to win the match and Sharapova had to buy him dinner that night.
"I think you were fanboying." 😂@MariaSharapova recalls an early encounter with @DjokerNole.#tennisathome pic.twitter.com/k3fHr8avEj— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 5, 2020
Maria then went on to say how Djoker produced a Kodak camera and asked the waiter to capture a picture of the two together.
"We ended up going to dinner and it was so funny because you pulled out, I think it was an old Kodak camera and you asked the waiter to take a photo of us and here we are".
By the time Sharapova wrapped the tale, both were seen laughing fondly. Djokovic said, "Yeah, that's what actually happened. Maria is saying the truth, right."
This is when the Russian star said, "I think you were fanboying". And the comment had the Serbian nearly choking with laughter.
At the start of the live session, Djoker had mentioned how he was glad to call Sharapova a "friend" and the fact that they knew each other for a long time. Sharapova is the latest star to appear in Djoker's Instagram lives. Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Wim Hof and others have already done the honours.