American actor Shawn Hatosy once said that Serena Williams and Andy Murray teaming up to play mixed doubles was like a Super Bowl for him, highlighting his love for tennis. He wondered why the sport wasn't more popular than it was.Williams and Murray sent shockwaves across the tennis fraternity when they decided to team up and play mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 2019. The duo made it to the third round of the competition, where they were ousted by the top seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar. Talking about the partnership in 2019, Shawn Hastosy, who recently starred in the American medical drama The Pitt, was confused by the lack of popularity of tennis, and also claimed the blockbuster team-up was as big as the Super Bowl, the biggest game in American football.“I am a huge fan and I'm confused why this sport doesn’t feel like it’s growing. I look at things like, even just doubles, and how limited the coverage is. I personally, when I found out Serena and Andy Murray were playing mixed doubles, to me, that's like the Super Bowl. You couldn’t even find it on TV. You had to get ESPN plus. To me that just blew me away."He then chronicled how he got into tennis as a kid because a neighbor of his had a tennis court in his backyard. Coupled with the fact that he grew up in Charleston, a tennis town as he calls it, he got hooked on the sport, and his love for it only grew as time went on."I was introduced to tennis pretty young because one of my neighbors had put a court in his backyard. I was an athlete. I played soccer and basketball. I'm a fast guy who was able to get by on no fundamental base at first. In Charleston there are a lot of public tennis facilities that anybody can play on. It's a big tennis town. I was there for a year before I walked into this tennis center and took a lesson. I'm 43 now and I've been playing tennis three or four times a week ever since that day, I just caught the bug."Continuing his thoughts, Hatosy also said that what he enjoyed the most about tennis was,"What I really enjoy about tennis is that your natural instinct is to tighten up and want to muscle it over, which are all things that are counter to what makes a good tennis player. You have to find a way to be relaxed and as childlike as possible."I gave up alcohol about 12 years ago and needed to find something to put my energy towards. My therapist once recommended that I should take up hitting something in a safe environment and that’s where tennis just fit in perfectly. It’s a part of me now,” he added. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostComing back to Serena Williams and Andy Murray, it is worth noting that the partnership was not only special for the tennis world but also for the players involved."I had the pleasure of playing mixed doubles by your side, which was such a fantastic experience to do that at Wimbledon" - Serena Williams to Andy MurraySerena Williams and Andy Murray - Source: GettyAndy Murray hung up his racket last year and had a special ceremony conducted for him at his penultimate tournament, Wimbledon 2024. Following the ceremony, Serena Williams shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate the Brit on an illustrious career and called playing mixed doubles with him at Wimbledon one of the 'highlights' of her life."I had the pleasure of playing mixed doubles by your side, which was such a fantastic experience to do that at Wimbledon. It was really one of the highlights of my life so I'm just so grateful that I had that experience." Serena Williams said (00:25 onwards)Serena Williams also said Andy Murray held a special place in her heart for how the Brit spoke highly of not only her and her sister Venus, but also all women.A popular video of Murray correcting a journalist who overlooked the achievements of the Williams sisters and other American women also went viral last year during his final Wimbledon tournament.