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The Official Tennis-Prose.com Media Survey
Who are the funniest players in tennis? The smartest? The dullest? The zaniest? The best TV commentators?
Our Tennis-Prose.com team of media insiders with over a half-century of tennis journalism experience combined, contemplate these thought-provoking survey questions and a few more, to give you their somewhat unobjective answers…
Dan Markowitz
Coolest Player(s): Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Smartest: Roger Federer.
Funniest: Andy Roddick.
Dullest: Andy Murray.
Zaniest / Erratic: James Blake.
Favorite Tournaments: NA
Future Star: Bernard Tomic.
Best Personality: Gael Monfils.
Favorite TV Commentator: Brad Gilbert.
Favorite Tennis Apparel/Shoes: adidas.
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Dan C. Weil
Coolest: Michael Llodra. I like the athletic serve-and-volley style.
Smartest: Francesca Schiavone. She’s able to neutralize players wtih bigger weapons by mixing things up.
Funniest: Roddick/Federer. They always come up with some good lines in press conferences.
Dullest: Andy Murray. He never seems to change from a monotone, though his game can be quite exciting.
Zaniest: Bethany Mattek-Sands. Leopard print?
Tournament: Monaco for the view. U.S. Open for the tennis — the surface gives everyone a chance.
Future Star: Ryan Harrison. From the little I’ve seen and what I’ve read, he’s got the goods.
Best Personality: John McEnroe. Can you be serious that it’s anyone else?
Favorite TV Commentator: Patrick McEnroe. He gives great analysis and isn’t afraid to criticize players.
Favorite Apparel: Nike. I particularly liked the Pete Sampras relaxed look.
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Richard Pagliaro
Coolest: Guga Kuerten, Patrick Rafter, Stefan Edberg, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Taylor Dent, Guillermo Vilas, Yannick Noah.
Women: Gabriela Sabatini, Martina Hingis, Flavia Pennetta.
Smartest: John McEnroe, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Mats Wilander, Novak Djokovic, Vera Zvonareva – people always laugh when I say that but ask Scoop about the answer Vera gave us in comparing Pennetta to Schiavone – she’s also gone on to get a college degree. Mario Ancic, Max Mirnyi both have law degrees and both are very smart. James Blake, certainly not the smartest match player, but intelligent in terms of the outside world. Hewitt is one of the smarter match players in terms of mid-match adjustments I’ve seen in recent years.
Funniest: Federer, Roddick, Schiavone, Marat Safin, Fabrice Santoro, Vince Spadea, Michael Llodra, Dmitry Tursunov, Gael Monfils, Jelena Jankovic, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Martina Hingis, Mary Carillo. Believe it or not, Davydenko can be very funny – a very dry sense of humor – when he wants to be.
Dullest: David Nalbandian, a brilliant player, but absolutely awful in interviews, Nicolas Kiefer, a smart guy who shuts it down in interviews, Nicolas Almagro, not as dull as the others, but sometimes views interviews with all the enthusiasm of a man undergoing root canal with a pair of rusty pliers.
Zaniest/Erratic: Marat Safin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Gael Monfils, Novak Djokovic, Vince Spadea, Jensen brothers.
Favorite Tournaments: Miami, US Open, Wimbledon, Newport, Cincy, the old Amelia Island. I am told – by players – Monte Carlo is one of the best events for the scenery, field, club, fans, but have never covered it myself. Also told by many Australian Open is the best but again have never covered it.
Future Star: Ernests Gulbis, Grigor Dimitrov.
Favorite Commentator: John McEnroe, Fred Stolle, Brad Gilbert, Darren Cahill, Mary C.
Favorite apparel: One of the first sleeveless shirts Nike ever did that James Blake wore at the US Open – black with red stripe near the shoulder. The classic Fila gear of Borg and Vilas days. The older adidas clothes, not the stuff now that looks like a failed Rorschach test spilled over the front. Favorite shoes: adidas and New Balance.
Best Personality: The Bryan Brothers. Just for the fact that I’ve interviewed them a lot and they have never, as far as I can recall, uttered the words “no comment” They are very good about trying to answer every question and I’ve ask them about groupies, fights in the locker room, biggest jerks on tour.
Favorite Rivalry: Borg McEnroe, Agassi vs. Rafter, Federer vs. Nadal, Guga vs. Safin, Nadal vs. Coria, Djoker vs. Tsonga.
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Scoop Malinowski
Coolest: Monfils, Sampras, Federer, Nadal, Kuerten, Safin, Clement, Ginepri, Rafter, Pennetta, Wozniacki, Hingis, Evert.
Smartest: Nadal -he’s 14-7 vs. the GOAT. Ljubicic is a fantastic interview in English which is not his first language. Federer, Agassi and John McEnroe. Hewitt is razor sharp, so is Roddick. Vera Zvonareva. That was brilliant when she was comparing the games of Pennetta and Schiavone – she could do TV commentary right now. She also said she is going to school to be a diplomat. Santoro – he survived almost 20 years on the ATP Tour. At first he was just hoping to last a year or two. Gulbis and Harrison – I was very impressed by their intelligence in the media room in Delray this year. And last but not least Pancho Segura.
Funniest: Roddick, Djokovic, Safin, Schiavone, Connors at the Open in ’89 when he was talking to the TV camera and pointing at the chair ump.
Dullest: Murray. But it’s by choice. He’s not really that dull. His fire and colorful side come out on the court sometimes.
Zaniest / Erratic: The only two guys to pull their shorts down on court – Safin and Djokovic. Cahill told me Noah moonwalked on the court during a Davis Cup tie once.
Favorite Tournaments: US Open, Wimbledon, Newport, DC, Delray, Miami, French, Australian. The European indoor circuit always looks good on TV.
Future Star: Harrison, Dimitrov, Schiavone.
Best Personality: Vilas, Schiavone, Hingis, Federer, La Monf, Tsonga, Muster, Ivanisevic.
Favorite TV Commentator: Both McEnroes, Gilbert, Cahill, Drysdale, Stolle, Pancho Gonzalez on The Tennis Channel classics, Carillo in the 90’s, Courier.
Favorite Tennis Apparel/Shoes: Nike right now – Nadal’s. Pete Sampras white Nike and Oscillates – classic. I think they made the ATP Tour logo from Pete. Hingis adidas. Guga’s Diadora when he became #1. Lacoste is catching my eye lately. Vintage Stan Smith adidas.
“The News Man” artwork by Miami-based artist Carlos A. Navarro.
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