Tennis is a serious business with a lot at stake but funny, light hearted moments with the best players in the world do happen…
Magnus Larsson recalled the folly of almost losing his first prize money. “My first tennis paycheck, $2500. I lost. On the way back home to Stockholm. With my wallet. I had no money. I was calling my dad on the phone to tell him what time I come home. When I make the call, I found another wallet. I turned it into the info desk. Lot of money in it. Then when I got on the plane, I realize I left my wallet at the info desk! I had to run to get it back in time. But there was a few sweaty moments.”
Elena Vesnina witnessed a player robbed by a thief – during a changeover. “I remember I was playing one time in India and next court to me, Vania King actually – she put the banana on the chair and the monkey came and took it. And ball kids were trying to run after it to get the banana. And Vania was like, No I don’t need it. Leave it, give it to the monkey.”
Vince Spadea showed tennis is a game of love as he somehow managed to set up a date…while playing in a Tour match. “One time I got a phone number during a match. I was rappin’, pretendin’ like I was talkin’ to the ballkid. Hey, how’s it going? Maybe we’ll have a drink sometime. So then later the ballkid slipped me the number. Her name was Sunshine.”
When asked about a funny tennis memory, Xavier Malisse immediately thought of a former player he used to practice with. “Mose Navarra of Italy, I’ve never known a guy as crazy as him. We used to go out a lot. And I know how he acts, every time we go out my stomach would hurt from laughing. His remarks around people, not bad, just funny.”
Thomas Muster went all the way back to his childhood days of playing in Austria. The always passionate and demonstrative Muster was never shy about expressing himself in tennis, not even as a young boy. “When I was younger, I was trying to ask anyone and everyone to play with me. Anyone who was waiting for a friend or who just finished, I ask everyone to play. I think people were afraid to come early to the club because I was there.”
Nicolas Lapentti recalled an uncanny memory of his amazingly accurate shotmaking. “I was playing a tournament in Lima, Peru in 1995. And my coach at the time – Pablo Guzman – was sitting up, up in the corner. And I hit a serve wide and it hit something in the wall – like a wire or something – and the ball went straight up and took off his baseball hat. The ball went completely up – it didn’t touch him – just took off his hat. A hat like yours. Took it off. It was too much.”
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Nicolas Kiefer remembered how he artfully dodged having to do tedious running drills in practice. “When I was younger, 9 or 10, in practice we used to run a lot because of fitness. Once I did not want to run and I closed myself in a locker room closet. And so I didn’t run. After, they come back and pick me up.”
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Andy Roddick honed his competitive spirit as he used to play fantasy matches in his garage. “When I was growing up, we had this rebound net in our garage that I played on. And I used to pretend I was playing McEnroe, Sampras, Lendl, three out of five sets. My mom would come out and ask me the score. And I’d be like, I’m winning. She’d be like, Oh, that’s impressive. So that was my big thing when I was little, playing with that rebound net, being in my own little world.”
Arnaud DiPasquale summoned up an odd experience in South America. Unfortunately a poor bird met a violent fate. “One time, a long time ago, in Satellite in Uruguay. Just after juniors. I was practicing. There were a few birds on the baseline while we were taking a drink on the changeover. I just hit the ball to scare them away. And I killed one. I felt so bad after that. I feel like a killer. I killed the bird.”
Jim Courier reminisced about times at The Bollettieri Academy. “The times I was at Bollettieri’s Tennis Camp where we would sneak out in the middle of the night. The boys and the girls, we’d all sneak out, take our racquets with tennis balls at 2 a.m. and have like these tennis ball wars where they were building stuff. So we were like firing tennis balls at each other from close range. Of course, we all got caught and had to wash cars and pick the weeds the next day.”
I interviewed the great Don Budge at the U.S. Open a few years before he passed away. He retained a memory of a ping pong match. “We have a ping pong table at home. I took a fellow – a neighbor of mine – up there to see our game room. He said, Oh, do you play ping pong? I said, Yes. He said, You know, I’m a pretty good player. So I played him. After he said, Gee, you’re pretty good Don! I said, Oh, I play much better right-handed! I played him left-handed and beat him easily. And he was quite chagrined [smiles]!”
Richard Krajicek culled a memory of when he was only second-best in the Krajicek household. “I was six or seven, I used to play tennis with my older sister Lenka. She used to always beat me. She was 13. Then one day she played left-handed to make it fair. And she still beat me!”
Poland’s Lukas Kubot had a bizarre moment when his serve hit his doubles partner not once but twice. “I played with Oliver Marach in doubles. And I hit him with my serve to the head. And the ball didn’t go left or right – it went 20 meters straight up. Fell down and the ball fell down and hit him again. And we were playing French guys in the Challenger. It was at the end of 2005, the Challenger in Doha. After was the ATP tournament in Doha. And the first question that I asked Oliver, Man, sorry, are you okay? And his answer was like, Man, I want to win [smiles]. So I had a second serve after and I couldn’t stop laughing. So I was laughing. I got a time violation from the referee. And I hit the second serve directly to the fans with my frame [smiles]. So that was probably the funniest. (Win?) We win the match. We won the tournament with a wildcard. And we played semifinal in Doha in the ATP tournament, which actually started the doubles career.”
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« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next »Andrew Miller · September 27, 2019 at 9:09 am
Kyrgios has fans. It’s possible that around the world people buy tickets to watch Kyrgios explode or implode. Personally, I think folks should support other players who could benefit more. Find a player like Dzumhur, who does it all and is guaranteed to play hard the whole match. They’ll respond to the fan support.
Or support a player like Cirstea, who definitely responds to fan support!
Andrew Miller · September 27, 2019 at 9:13 am
Every WTA player vs Riske should ask why they lose to her or what Riske does that they can learn from. If she had a book it would be a sequel to Brad Gilbert’s book, because her game is a shock to watch. There is no shot Riske hits that other players don’t hit better, not one! I’m being unfair.
Jeff · September 27, 2019 at 9:30 am
Hantuchova is a lovely, lovely lady. I remember her in Sports Illustrated. That was tremendous. There is nothing critical to say about she looks.
catherine · September 27, 2019 at 9:44 am
Andrew – Riske sank Kvitova 7-5 7-5. I don’t think you’re being unfair. I couldn’t work out why Riske bt Svitolina or before that why she beat Angie – on the other hand she lost to Gibbs not long ago.
Andrew Miller · September 27, 2019 at 10:38 am
Jeff is funny. I try not to comment on a player’s allure, but I appreciate that Jeff does. I’ll say that WTA players seem to enjoy glamming it up. Their version of the player’s party looks like more fun than the standard office party.
Andrew Miller · September 27, 2019 at 10:38 am
Riske goes for every ball. Makes a difference. Gotta beat her.
catherine · September 27, 2019 at 10:59 am
Andrew – at the standard office party everybody would be drunk. Much more fun.
Andrew Miller · September 27, 2019 at 5:06 pm
Tashkent tennis: hardly a soul beyond the ump and the announcers were on hand to see Van Uytvanck + her semifinal win from the video. The court had no stands or anything. It was arguably worse than the public parks court in my neighborhood. She gets Cirstea next.
Scoop Malinowski · September 27, 2019 at 9:11 pm
The Li Na boom has not taken effect in China.
catherine · September 28, 2019 at 12:20 am
Tashkent in Uzbekistan ? Tennis boom not extended to Central Asia.
catherine · September 28, 2019 at 12:35 am
WTA is weird – Riske from US wins and no highlights of match v Kvitova. But you can pick up another stream and it was interesting to see Petra s/v against Alison – Petra didn’t win the match but that seemed a good tactic. Sabalenka might take a hint.
Hartt · September 28, 2019 at 6:11 am
Taskent does have stands, but they are so far back they are difficult to see. And I haven’t seen fans actually sitting there. Someone actually posted an overhead view to show where the stands were in relation to the courts. A very weird setup.
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 6:41 am
Chengdu, empty stadium! Hard to tell if anyone at all saw Bublik v Dimitrov. These tournaments have to get some fans or something. Tashkent may have the problem of a WTA tournament where the salary is US 250 bucks a month. If they want people in stands they have to give tickets away or sell at rock bottom prices, which they should because doesn’t look as if anyone is there even if the stands are somewhere else!
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 6:48 am
Bouzkova’s name popped up, retiring to PetKo. She played so well in Toronto, which is now forever ago. Modest results since.
Surprising, she showed a big game. Then again this is the tail end of a long season. The retirements are so common – Svito retired a week ago to Bouzkova. Normally that would be a match I’d think she’d get up for.
This subc tank may be real.
catherine · September 28, 2019 at 6:55 am
Big game bts Riske in 3. Sabalenka served 18 aces to win Wuhan twice in a row. Aryna does well at the end of the year but I think she’ll be tired in Beijing.
Andrew -subc ts are all over the place in Asia. Not a good look but I can’t blame players (some of them).
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 7:05 am
Van Utyvanck d. Cirstea to win Tashkent. Cirstea falls in three. I’m not sure what the speech would be, can’t say thank you all for coming? Congrats to Van Utyvanck because if a player doesn’t push themselves in Tashkent they can’t seem to rely on crowd support!
Hartt · September 28, 2019 at 7:22 am
Tennis has a huge problem in that so many matches are during the day on weekdays. Unless they are held during holidays, most people are at work or in school. I read that this is an even bigger problem in Asia, where people cannot afford to take any time off work.
Hartt · September 28, 2019 at 7:33 am
We’ve talked about young players having to fund their careers, so I found a piece on the ATP site about Nishioka interesting. I knew about Morita funding Japanese juniors to train at the IMG Academy, but not about the conditions attached. Nishioka must have met those conditions, because he was at the Academy for 4 years.
Growing up in Japan, Nishioka was one of many young players who benefitted from the generosity of former Sony Chairman Masaaki Morita, who underwrote the cost of sending players to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
“Mr. Morita wanted to support Japanese tennis juniors and at that time in Japan not many players went outside the country. But Mr. Morita thought we had to go outside. Each year he sent a junior to IMG Academy and there we were given our goal for the year, such as winning a Futures event or a big junior tournament. If I meet the goal, I get to stay for another year. If I don’t meet it, I have to go back home.”
catherine · September 28, 2019 at 9:59 am
Penko bts Ka Pliskova in Beijing – commits 53 UEs and 25 dfs.
Don’t think I’d have stayed for that one.
Hartt · September 28, 2019 at 12:49 pm
Bianca is still at the fun stage of her career when many of the tournaments, and the cities they are in, are new to her. Before it starts to become just routine.
From her press conference before the beginning of the Beijing tourney.
“The Canadian player said: “It’s my first time in China, my first time at this tournament.
So far so good. I’m really enjoying it. The people are very kind. The food is unbelievable. That’s what I was looking forward to the most. The hotel is nice. The site is very well-organized. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.”
I’m feeling pretty confident. I’ve been having some really good practices lately. I had a good training week in Toronto and in Montreal. Now here. I got here four days ago, and I’ve been practicing really well. So I’m feeling pretty confident.” (Tennis World)
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 1:19 pm
Kry. Pliskova, the enigma.
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 1:24 pm
CarrenoB blasts Shapo. That’s gotta hurt. On paper Shapo wins ten of ten of these matches. In reality CarrenoB has a long term memory and takes Shapo out for the loss in Rome, gets his revenge on a court that favors Shapo in every way. Now 2-1 on Shapo on hardcourts. Shapo has to win this kind of match, but CarrenoB is like the Chela of the 2010s, always tough and you’ll probably lose if overlook him. CarrenoB must like his chances against the unproven Bublik, who miraculously devastated Dimitrov in their high octane match.
catherine · September 28, 2019 at 1:29 pm
It was Penko who made 53 UEs and hit 25 dfs. And still won. I’d say she’s the enigma 🙂
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 2:36 pm
Sabalenka, 3 of 4 titles in China including two in Wuhan. Riske thrives in China, where she’s made six of her nine career WTA finals and her two WTA titles come in China.
Sabalenka reminded me a little of Mauresmo with her movement. Her serve has a minor hitch but it didn’t bother her today. She had some nice combos and I don’t think Riske was going to get by Sabalenka unless Sabalenka was way off (as she was for part of the second set from the highlights).
On Riske, she makes the balls she gets to. That keeps her in contention every match. She is definitely an attitude over game player, and doesn’t count herself out. She could benefit from improving every part of her game so that her game matches her mindset. She clearly competes hard. It’s not much fun to watch. I think it may be easy to mistake her for a top level tennis player. Her ball must be pretty flat too, which would also keep her in contention every match because you have to move, bend to get there.
So Sabalenka…not the time of the season to thrive but acquits herself well here and gets a title and fan love in China.
catherine · September 28, 2019 at 3:06 pm
Other players have said Riske hits pretty flat so I’m assuming that’s so. Can’t say I’d run anywhere to watch her but she mostly gets there and that’s what counts. Gives Kerber fits.
Sabalenka makes a great speech thanking her team for putting up with her. Probably not the easiest job in the world. That second set was so typical. I can somehow see Aryna lifting the Wimbledon trophy some day, but not much else. She’s got that kind of once-in-a-lifetime look. Do it for Belarus.
A player like Andreescu will probably get to read her quite quickly.
Beijing’s going to be interesting. Bianca might overdose on Chinese food from what I’m reading above.
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 3:06 pm
Kenin keeps on going. Two says, two more quality wins. Is there a more consistent player this year?
Gotta say outside Serena, US player games are capital B not exciting. But Kenin shows sick consistency, Riske too.
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 4:06 pm
Congratulations to Sabalenka. A big week. Clearly her wacko I hate you don’t leave me coaching deal with Tursunov paid off in Wuhan, where they worked again this week after the fiasco of the US Open.
A slam for Sabalenka would be fantastic. This is definitely the time to do it, before another talented WTA player decides they love the sport more than their Instagram account. And she followed up her US Open doubled title which she took over Azarenka, so the Belarusian tiger is doing fab.
Sabalenka might lose to Instagram with her one hundred thousand plus followers. Maybe China truly is the only place in the world Sabalenka could conceivably do well given this setup.
I’m now convinced until otherwise that some players are more involved in their branding than in their tennis. It takes a singular kind of focus to make it to the podium more often than not, and even to produce a comeback, however short lived. I’ve heard a few interviews now and based on a totally unscientific sample I believe the marketing of the sport personal brand etc is undefeated against the athlete side of the coin. Maybe even Graf would lose to Instagram where your personal brand matters more than your prep against your random opponent.
Andrew Miller · September 28, 2019 at 4:15 pm
De Minaur, aka “Nadal-lite”. The kid’s sneakers are loud. Is his footwork ok? I can’t tell, he’s like the roadrunner and seems to overstep things. One thing is for sure: De Minaur, despite Kyrgios notoriety and publicity, is Australia’s best ATP player. Kokkinakis also has had a nice week on the challengers in California.
Hartt · September 28, 2019 at 5:04 pm
So should Bianca’s fans be concerned that the number of followers on her Instagram has mushroomed to 646,000? She does show videos of her working hard, as well as photos of Chinese food. So, to ease Catherine’s concern, hopefully all that running wears off the calories. 🙂
Scoop Malinowski · September 28, 2019 at 5:22 pm
Carrena Busta is like Ferrero Jr. Darn good player, can lock horns with the best but just not quite good enough to beat them when the stakes are high.
Scoop Malinowski · September 28, 2019 at 5:27 pm
Was Tursunov with Sabalenka this week in Wuhan?
Scoop Malinowski · September 28, 2019 at 5:28 pm
Kenin just keeps on improving and climbing the rankings. Dangerous player capable of top 5 or better. High quality game and even better mental. Dangerous player.
Scoop Malinowski · September 28, 2019 at 5:31 pm
De Minaur reminds me of a better version of Tipsarevic, compact strokes, quick around the court, redirects the ball, but quicker feet and better defense. Top ten for sure, top five a definite maybe.
Hartt · September 28, 2019 at 6:13 pm
Was glad to hear that Kokkinakis had a good week at the Challenger. I hope he can have an extended period with no injuries. He is too talented to have a low ranking. When I googled his name to check his current ranking, the first thing that came up was “Kokkinakis injuries.”
catherine · September 29, 2019 at 12:42 am
Scoop – yes, I think Tursunov was with S in Wuhan but as I didn’t see occ I can’t be certain. She seemed pretty happy with her team though and didn’t mention any changes. You mentioned earlier they were back together.
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 7:49 am
Yes, Tennis.com reported Tursunov worked with Sabalenka this week in Wuhan. By Sabalenka own admission this year Tursunov helped her use strategy on court instead of whatever it is. Mindless ball bashing is what I refer to it as, Just Play My Game 🙂 Guess Sabalenka is impossible to work with.
“The two have been working together at Wuhan, but Sabalenka was by herself the previous week at Guangzhou and found she could not blame others for her problems.”
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 7:58 am
Tiburon, where Kyrgios once broke through in 2013 as an eighteen years old, has a worthy final: Tommy “Given I didn’t make the US Open main draws, I have something to prove” Paul versus T. “I am on friendly terms with all Aussies” Kokkinakis.
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 8:02 am
Tennis.com on Shapo: “Shapovalov dropped to 0-7 in tour-level semifinals.”
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 8:06 am
Carreno Busta d. Bublik, wins Chengdu
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 8:12 am
The draws look tough this week.
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 8:19 am
If Instagram becomes another day job, which it is for some pro tennis players, hard to see how it doesn’t affect their professional life.
Anyways. It’s one thing to have a few photos shoots. It’s another for your whole life to be a photo shoot and for some players it borders on this. I’m sure it sounds like I am obsessed about the issue, and I am. I think it’s very warped to play a match and tweet it at the same time, or to play a match and then scroll an Instagram and deal with fans who say all sorts of things.
If I were players I’d have someone else monitoring official accounts and limit content. That’s not how Instagram apparently works, which tends to absorb people because fans want “endless content”. If you’re giving endless content, your forehand is going to be wobbly.
Scoop Malinowski · September 29, 2019 at 8:52 am
Tommy Paul’s consistent breakout year continues, well done by Paul. Kokkinakis goes from beating Federer in Miami to can’t win a match the rest of the year, but now he’s back on track until the next crash? The guy deserves a break.
Scoop Malinowski · September 29, 2019 at 8:53 am
Dr Youzhny should be able to fix this Shap flaw of semi failures.
Andrew Miller · September 29, 2019 at 9:03 am
Tiburon, world’s best challenger. I think the California stretch of the challenger season is like a mini US Open. Conditions are good, players out of this world, competition intense.
Paul, so good to see him take the US open snub plus qualies loss, make up his mind to get his ranking up for direct entry into Australia. He has let his racquet do the talking and his racquet is saying a lot these days.
As for Kokki, this is how a player gets back, they get confidence from winning. Kokki is a complete player that has been injured for over six years. As if Kokki, Del Potro just take turns being hurt.
Here’s a business opportunity, someone anyone figure out how to keep the guys over 6’3” healthy. A healthy Del Potro would have kept the big four plus in line. A healthy Cilic probably too.
catherine · September 29, 2019 at 9:05 am
Andrew – some players do have others managing their IG/twitter accounts. I’d say some of the older players.
Meanwhile there’s maybe light at the end of the tunnel:
https://www.ubitennis.net/2019/09/stefanos-tsitsipas-youtube-isnt-included-social-media-detox/
Hartt · September 29, 2019 at 9:54 am
I don’t usually pay much attention to IG, but the conversation here led me to have another look at Bianca’s account. She has added another 1,000 followers in the last day or so, and is now up to 647,000. These seems crazy! It is easy to see photos going back several months. She does not seem to post super often, and most of the pics relate to tennis. But I was disappointed to see that she does have a few “cheesecake” type photos. I just don’t get why female players want to do that.
catherine · September 29, 2019 at 10:01 am
Hartt – I think we’re just old fashioned 🙂
catherine · September 29, 2019 at 10:03 am
Kerber wins another 3 setter v Zhang. I’m pleased to see a third set win.
Hartt · September 29, 2019 at 10:27 am
Catherine, yes indeed, I am old fashioned about some things.
Oh well, as long as the player’s main focus is on tennis.
catherine · September 29, 2019 at 11:53 am
Kerber/Zhang match was a torrid up and down affair and all credit to Angie for coming through in the end. This was the kind of match she might have surrendered meekly earlier this year. Dirk Dier was in the box for her but I didn’t see anyone else.
Yastremska dismantled poor Garcia 1 & 1. Don’t know if Caro’s still coached by her father, but something has to change. Kiki won her match.
It’s a bit like waiting for Godot in Beijing – waiting for Bianca.