Tennis and its showmen: Comedians amongst Gentlemen – Tennis Special
What’s a sport that doesn’t have a little drama to complement all the other ingredients such as competition, methodology, sportsmanship, and rivalry. No, not the kind of soap opera that revolves professional wrestling, but one
has to admit, cinematic displays along with technique and energy pump any game at many levels.
Tennis, as many consider it is not always a game of serious and classy men dressed in polo shirts illustrating power and energy. It has continually had players, a handful though, given to theatrics and antics. Recently, there was
much discussion on Novak Djokovic’s display of humour with his impression of Rafael Nadal at the Rome Masters ceremony. The spicy bit is that Nadal was actually present there standing right next to Djokovic and demonstrated true sportsmanship when he told
the host that he was okay with the imitation. In fact he took Djokovic’s shield from his hand so he could proceed on to the court for the impression while the crowd cheered with excitement. Djokovic, with a smug smirk on his face, bent down a few times, pulled
his socks up, rolled his half sleeves all the way; to make his shirt look sleeveless, adjusted his shorts from the front and behind along with his privates, and pounced around the court- moves which could clearly be labelled ‘Nadal’, sending the crowd into
a frenzy.
An even funnier event was when naughty Djokovic imitated Maria Sharapova, before the US Open 2007, even though he has attempted this before, practice is making him better, because this time, all he needed was a blond wig and one
couldn’t have told the difference. He came onto the court with Maria’s half walk half jog style, adjusted his hair, exactly like she does, looked straight at the opponent, gave a little pout, and a killer look that Maria attempts before she slays her rival.
Then he stood in that elegant yet perfect stance that belongs to Sharapova and nudged his behind out and higher as heads in the crowd fell back with shouts of laughter. Now we know how he became the ‘Djoker’.
Impersonation seems to be the popular way of having fun among tennis players. A personal favourite is the impression of Serena Williams by Andy Roddick at an exhibition match in December 2007. He disappeared into the changing rooms
for a moment, when the spectators heard the name Serena Williams announced loudly in the speakers. And I am smiling as write this, because Roddick walked onto the court with a towel stuffed in the back of his shorts to matchup to Serena’s behind. As he imitated
a couple of her serves and tried to bob about like her doing a funny cat walk the towel fell and he ended the drama with a shake of his derrière making the fans squeal with laughter.
Speaking of Serena Williams, the 13 time Grand Slam champion cannot only entertain with her skills as tennis; she also has the ability to captivate rather scandalize with her choice of clothing. She wore a yellow and purple outfit
at the Australian Open 2011, with a flesh coloured under wear displaying much more than her prowess at tennis. The dress was too revealing to be a swimming costume let alone a tennis dress. Another of her much talked about outfits was the one she wore at the
French Open 2011, which looked like lingerie rather than sportswear, in fact with her loud grunting, she looked like leading actress for ‘Moulin Rouge’, which quite literally was theatrically entertaining.
No matter what the style, or manner, drama and a good game are undoubtedly the best form of amusement. The fans hope that tennis always has players that can mingle comedy with seriousness, and add drama and humour to the technique
and energy to deliver a good dose of entertainment.
Disclaimer: The ideas expressed in the article are the writer’s own personal views and have nothing to do with bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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