The funny side of Tennis

There are a few Professional Tennis players who can be serious when they are on court, but see the lighter side of their profession when they are off the court. Most players are too serious, too concerned about putting their proverbial feet in their mouths, or as in many cases, they just don’t possess a sense of humor. A few players invite funny comments about themselves from other players or reporters, by their antics on court or by their comments during or after a match. With no bias and no sense of order, here’s a few amusing tennis anecdotes:-

“The best doubles pair in the world, is John McEnroe and any body else”, was a comment made by doubles partner Peter Fleming.

When Patrick McEnroe unexpectedly reached the semi finals of the Australian open he said, “It’s just like you would expect, Edberg, Lendl, McEnroe and Becker!”

Jimmy Connors said about John McEnroe, “I don’t know that my behavior has improved with age, they just found someone worse.”

Thomas Smid said after a humbling defeat by John, “John’s so good all you can do against him is shake hands and take a shower.”

A Daily News reporter remarked about John McEnroe, “John has hair like badly turned broccoli, and when he serves it’s as though he is serving around the corner of an imaginary building.”

Vitas Gerilaitis said about his name, “Everyone thinks my name is Jerry Laitis, and they call me Mr. Laitis. What can you do when your name sounds like a disease?”

One of the greatest Tennis rarities is a British tennis player with a can of silver polish!

“If Borg’s parents hadn’t liked the name, he might never have been Bjorn!”

“Ivan Lendl is a robot, a solitary mechanical man who lives with his dogs behind the towering walls of his estate in Connecticut. A man who so badly wants to have a more human image that he’s having surgery performed to remove the bolts from his neck.”

A comment about Djokovic’s serving habit was made by an opponent, “On days when his serve is not going well, he frays your nerves by bouncing the ball between 20 and 30 times before each serve.”

Martina Hingis who has always been known as a player with a sharp sense of humour, and a tongue to match, said about herself after she won the singles and the doubles at the Australian open 2008 , “Next year when I return, I plan to play mixed doubles too.”

Of all the current crop of tennis players, I have a gut feeling that Jelena Jankovic has the most potential to be funny, there is something about her carefree attitude that suggests that she doesn’t take herself quite as seriously as the other women players. I have a picture of Ana Ivanovic with her tongue poking out that might be an insight to different side of her. I hope as 2009 rolls around and the players begin another arduous season that somewhere and somehow a few of them take a little time to relax and enjoy their uniqueness with a smile or a laugh.

Source-australianopen4u.com

Hmmm....maybe that's one of the biggest reasons why I'm just not interested in women's Tennis at the moment, the lack of not only personality but humor.

And I definitely agree about Jankovic. She's actually very Hingis-like in that regard.

Now mind you, I don't think anyone can really replace Hingis's brand of humor, but Jankovic could be a nice substitude.