Nelly Korda, America’s golden girl of golf, found herself at the center of a very un-golden social media storm—and it all started with Wimbledon. Yep, you read that right. While tennis fans were focused on Centre Court, Nelly’s own performance took a tumble—figuratively, and almost literally—as she exited the tournament early in a shock loss that had fans double-checking their screens.
Wait… golf star at Wimbledon? Relax—it was a cheeky crossover moment. Korda had been invited to a celeb-studded charity exhibition on the hallowed lawns of SW19. The event? All in good fun. The reaction? Not so much.
After she slipped and face-planted mid-point (in front of cameras, naturally), Nelly broke her silence with what seemed like an innocent Instagram caption:
“Well… Wimbledon 1, Korda 0 🤕🍓 Let’s just say I’ll stick to the greens, not the grass!”
But fans were not having it.
“Glad she thinks it’s a joke,” one snarky commenter wrote.
Another added, “Meanwhile real athletes are battling it out at Centre Court, and she’s making light of the whole thing?”
Ouch.
The moment quickly went viral, with clips of her fall playing in slow-mo alongside dramatic violin music. You know you’ve made it—or messed up—when you’re memed within hours.
Even more brutal? Some tennis fans claimed Korda was “mocking the sport” with her “tourist energy” on the court. One post that gained traction read:
“Respect the game. If Serena fell, she’d get up and win. Nelly falls and posts a selfie.”
Her fans, of course, rushed to defend her. “She’s an athlete, not a Wimbledon champ,” one replied. “It was a charity match, calm down.”
But the drama didn’t stop there. Korda’s statement was picked up by outlets from ESPN to TikTok tea accounts, dissecting whether she was shading tennis or simply laughing at herself.
To add fuel to the fire, sister Jessica Korda threw in a cryptic comment on the post: “Bet you still look glam falling on grass 😘”
Translation: she’s fine, but fans still weren’t.
In her follow-up story, Nelly tried to smooth things over: “Much love to the tennis world—I’m in awe of your talent! No shade, just bruised knees (and ego).”
