Djokovic and Serena doing the “Gangnam Style”Tennis is a sport which is played with a lot of emotions and seriousness. But ever so often, players take some time out from the intense match play and try to lighten the mood with various antics on the court. The fans also like to take a break from all the tense points and matches, and enjoy laughing with their favourite players.Here is a list of the top 10 funny moments seen on the tennis court over the years.Note: Charity matches have been included as well.
#10 Rafael Nadal - \"Will you marry me\"
Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest players of all time, is usually a very serious player on court. He is second on the all-time Grand Slam leaders’ list with 14 titles, just three behind Roger Federer.
But when a fan asked him to marry her in the middle of an intense period of play, Nadal couldn’t help but smile and wave his hand, much to the amusement of the crowd and the commentators. The incident happened at the Australian Open a couple of years ago during the third set of Nadal's match against Lukas Lacko.
#9 Djokovic and Almagro \"fighting\" on court
Djokovic is not called “Djoker” just because of his name, but also because of his various antics on court. He and Nicolas Almagro had the New Taipei City crowds exploding with laughter during their exhibition match in the city in 2012.
The Spaniard Almagro ran around on court to entertain the fans and distract his opponents when Djokovic’s partner served. Djokovic meanwhile kept shouting whenever the ball was called out. At one point of time, the two started “fighting” with each other and mockingly fell on the ground in pain.
Watch this hilarious video as both the players leave the audience in splits.
#8 Federer and Tsonga fooling around in Colombia
Roger Federer is really calm and composed when it comes to playing a competitive match. But he always shows his funny side during exhibition and charity matches.
It was the final exhibition match for the Swiss maestro in South America, and Federer took on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Bogota, Colombia. The atmosphere was electric, and the Swiss was like an orchestra conductor, raising and lowering the level of excitement among the fans throughout the match. Both players put on a show with some spectacular shot-making too.
Here’s a video of both Federer and Tsonga doing their best to entertain the crowd.
#7 God was watching this match!
They say that God is everywhere. But who knew He has a fair interest in watching tennis matches too!
In this hilarious incident in a doubles match, we see one of the players yelling “Don't do that..... God!" And just as he said that, there was a loud strike of thunder.
Watch this hilarious incident below.
#6 Federer and Agassi - charity match
Charity matches seem to throw up the funniest moments on the tennis court, as the players don’t play them quite as competitively as usual.
This time, it was between two legends – one retired and the other, the all-time Grand Slam leader. Roger Federer and Andre Agassi played a charity match against each other a few years ago before the Pacific Life Open, and Agassi light-heartedly began to mock the Swiss about being an overrated player and about his hair being too long. Federer too made a few mocking gestures on his part, and the whole crowd thoroughly enjoyed the humorous moment.
#5 Steffi Graf - \"Will you marry me\"
This one is another instance of a fan asking to marry the player on the court.
Steffi Graf is arguably the world’s best female singles player ever. She won a record 22 singles Grand Slam titles and retired at the age of 30 as she thought she had accomplished everything and had nothing left to win.
In this particular instance, during one of her matches, a fan screamed out, “Will you marry me?“. To everyone’s amusement, Graf replied by asking, “How much money do you have?“
Even though Graf played her tennis with a lot of seriousness, she clearly had a funny side to her as well!
#4 Djokovic and Ivanovic dancing
Novak Djokovic was at it again, and this time with childhood friend and Serbia’s top women’s player – Ana Ivanovic. The hilarious incident took place at the Hopman Cup last year.
Djokovic defeated Tommy Haas and Ivanovic demolished Tatjana Malek 6-0 6-1 in the early stages. With Serbia already through to the final, Haas withdrew from the mixed doubles match and Djokovic/ Ivanovic & Malek/Kokkinakis put on an entertaining exhibition that was ultimately won by the Serbians, 6-2 7-5.
During the match, Djokovic imitated Ivanovic which made her throw a ball at him. Then, he started dancing on the court as “Gangnam Style” was played in the stadium, and he even pulled Ivanovic to join him with a few steps.
#3 Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal grunting
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal might be fierce rivals on the court, but they are actually really good friends and have a lot of respect for each other. In fact, they like to mock each other as well.
In this video at the “Hit for Haiti” charity match held before the Australian Open a couple of years ago, we see Federer mocking the sound that Nadal makes after he hits a shot. Federer imitates the Spaniard’s trademark grunts and even makes a few wisecracks. The incident was lapped up by the crowd, who could hear everything that Federer and Nadal, both wearing collar microphones, were saying to each other.
Watch as the two legends make everyone laugh.
#2 Novak Djokovic\'s impersonations
Novak Djokovic is, by common consensus, one of the funniest players on the tour today. Before he became the senior statesman and world beater of the ATP tour, he was famous for the impersonations he could do of his compatriots on the court. In the early days of his career, Djokovic was seen impersonating plenty of players time and again on the request of the fans, and it looks like he mastered the act too!
In this hilarious video, you can see the Serb impersonate various tennis players like Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Goran Ivanisevic.
#1 Mansour Bahrami and his on-court theatrics
Mansour Bahrami is probably the funniest tennis player you will ever come across. Behrami started his career in the 1970s but the revolution in Iran forced him to stop playing tennis for a few years. When he returened to the sport after moving to France, he never found his rhythm. His highest career ranking was No. 192 in the world.
Bahrami has been a mainstay of the seniors invitational tennis circuit for about 20 years. He seems to have found his niche on the ATP Champions Tour, where his flamboyant style and propensity for trick shots chime with the tour's more entertainment-oriented format. In reference to his showmanship, his 2009 English-language autobiography was titled The Court Jester.
This video is sure to make you laugh your heart out.
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