This article has a collection of interesting facts about some of the world-renowned Tennis players. This will enable you to see beyond the glaring things you know about them. There are many famous Tennis players in the world. However, this article only discusses six of them- three males and three females. Get set for some mind-blowing journey into the world of some of the most talented Tennis stars!
Roger Federer
If you don’t know Roger Federer, one thing is certain – you don’t know Tennis! The Swiss Tennis superstar has won 19 Grand Slam singles titles. No one has won as many as he has won in the history of Tennis. He was the number one Tennis player in the world based on the ATP rankings for a record 302 weeks! You probably knew that before, onto the things you don’t know about him!
Twins Phenomenon
Roger Federer is popularly known for his phenomenal Grand slam Titles. He is, however, also phenomenal when it comes to making twins. Interestingly, all his babies are twins! Unbelievable, right?
He advocated against equal pay for male and female Tennis Player
I know that sounds awkward to you initially. Just keep calm, you might be able to reason with him. The greatest Tennis player ever advocated against the plan to make both male and female Tennis player earn equally. This is because he believes that male Tennis players invest more time and energy when playing than their female counterpart. This is actually true because men’s singles and double sets take a longer time to finish. Hence, he was only advocating for justified payment based on invested effort.
Super generous
Roger Federer is not just one of the greatest Tennis players, he is also a distinguished philanthropist. He plays in exhibition matches in order to raise funds for foundations who are committed to helping the needy. He has his own foundation too – Roger Federer Foundation. He started this foundation in 2003 after he won his first ever Grand Slam Title. His commitment to humanity beyond entertaining us with his skill has made him a worthy ambassador of UNICEF.
His wife is a former Tennis player
Roger Federer is not only in love with the Tennis sport, but he is also in love with a former Tennis player. His wife, Miroslava Federer who he got married to in 2009 is a former Tennis player. Her career was however cut short by a foot injury.
Living legend
He is the first person to have his image appear on the Swiss stamp while still alive! This was after he won his first grand slam title in 2003. He was the first Swiss to achieve this feat. The Swiss government launched the stamp in recognition of their illustrious son taking the world by storm.
Incredible resilience
Roger Federer possesses unreal resilience and consistency. He holds the record of playing more than a thousand games without retiring! This is unbelievable especially when you consider the fact that other world-renowned Tennis stars like Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, and Andy Murray have retired, 7 times, 11 times, and 4 times respectively. It is also interesting to know that he has kept on playing in spite of the fact that he has a serious back injury in the latter part of his career that makes him lose badly sometimes.
Rafael Nadal
Up next is Rafael Nadal. The Spanish superstar is also a household name when it comes to Tennis. The man often referred to as the “King of Clay” is the first Tennis player to win became the third player to win a single Grand Slam tournament nine times after he won the French Open in 2014. Enough said, let’s explore some amazing facts about him!
Tennis mentor at home
Nadal learned to play Tennis as early as age three. This was because he has an uncle, Toni Nadal who is a former Tennis player. His uncle observed that the young Nadal had obvious Tennis talents and nurtured him. Hence, it is not too shocking that he won his first Davis Cup when he was just 18 years old in 2004! He is the youngest player to achieve that.
Football Affiliations
Nadal claims to be a fan of Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca football clubs. In fact, before he became popular because of his Tennis talent, he was often described as “the nephew of Miguel Ángel Nadal”. Miguel is his uncle. He is a retired professional footballer, who spent his playing career at FC Barcelona and RCD Mallorca. He also had the opportunity to play for the Spanish National team.
Multitalented
He won the Spanish and European Tennis titles for his age group when he was twelve. Nadal was also seen as a promising football player during this period. His uncle, Toni Nadal was, however, able to dissuade him from pursuing football and focus on Tennis instead. He did this by intensifying his training as a Tennis player. What could have happened if Miguel Ángel Nadal was also as persistent as Toni Nadal to train his Nephew? Would he have become a great football player too? We will never know. Interestingly, it was his father who insisted that he should pick between football and Tennis early in life. He did this so that he would be able to also focus on his studies. Nadal picked Tennis, the rest is history.
Ambidextrous
Rafael Nadal is one of the few people in the world who are able to work effectively with both their left and right hands. He plays Tennis with his left hand but he writes with his right hand. The use of his left hand while playing Tennis can be linked to the influence of Toni Nadal who instructed him to play with his left hand to gain an advantage on the Tennis court.
Andy Murray
Andy Murray is the British number one Tennis player. He played his first competitive tournament when he was just five years old and featured in league tennis when he was just eight years old. In the open Era, he is the first British male to win a Grand Slam in 70 years since Fred Parry. Onto the fun facts about him!
Born with a defective Kneecap
Andy Murray had an early setback in life as he was born with a defective kneecap popularly known as bipartite “Patella.” Interestingly, he was never diagnosed until he was 16 years old. He has, however, been able to further ahead to become of the best tennis layers in the world.
Tennis in the blood
The source of Andy Murray’s passion for tennis and talent is not farfetched. This is because his mother, Judy Murray is also a tennis player. In fact, she is the captain of Britain’s Federation cup team. It was his mother who introduced him to the tennis league when he was just eight. He also has a brother, Jamie Murray, who is also a Tennis player. His father is, however, not a Tennis player in case you are wondering what he does. Andy Murray’s father is a manager for Scottish newsagent chain.
Declined football offer
Andy Murray was offered the chance to train with one of Scotland’s greatest football clubs- Rangers when he was 15. He, however, declined this offer in order to focus on developing his burgeoning tennis career.
Honorary Award
He is also one of the few sportsmen to bag an honorary award in recognition of their contribution to Sports. The University of Stirling awarded Andy Murray “Freedom of Stirling” which is an honorary Doctorate in recognition of his contribution to Tennis.
Young Sports Personality Award
Andy is the only non-English tennis player to be awarded the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year when he won the award. In 2004.
Hard to swallow defeat
Andy Murray learned never to underrate an opponent the hard way at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He suffered an unbelievable upset when he lost to Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan in spite of being the six seed in the first round.
Brothers in Arms
When Andy Murray won his first doubles title in the 2010 “Valencia Open 500” tournament where he defeated Boopathi and Mirnyi in the finals, interestingly, his partner was his brother, Jamie Murray. Andy defeated Jamie when Andy was 10 at the Solihull Tennis Match. Jamie was the second-best junior in the world by then. They were not opponents this time though.
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Murray’s contribution to Tennis saw him also appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013. This award recognizes individuals who have contributed immensely to the arts and sciences, public service outside the civil service, and work of charity. Talking of charity, Andy Murray has also played a couple of exhibition games to raise money for charity.
Serena Williams
The first female Tennis superstar to be discussed is Serena Williams. She is an African American tennis champion who has won Olympic medals, the U.S. Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. Don’t expect to be told that she has a sister who is also a famous Tennis player. That will not be new, right?
Home of five girls
You will be forgiven for thinking that Serena and Venus are the only girls of their parents due to their popularity. This is, however, not true. Serena is one of the five girls of her parents. Apart from Venus, the name of her other sisters is Isha, Lyndrea, and Yetunde.
Difficult beginning
Champions are made in adversity. This is the case for Serena Williams. She began playing Tennis at the age of five in spite of having to duck gunshots where she was training. She was, however, able to hone her skills and developed rapidly as a tennis player in spite of this. She was able to maximize all the available opportunities to train even at a young age.
Religious Affiliation
In case you are wondering if the woman often referred to as the “queen of the court” has any religious affiliation, here is your answer. Serena is a Jehovah’s Witness.
Sister at war
When Serena Williams and her sister, Venus Williams met in the final of the 1999 Lipton Championships, it was the first time since 1884 where two sisters faced themselves in the final of a pro event. You are itching to know who won? It was Venus who carried the day.
Colorful outfits
Serena Williams carved a niche for herself as a tennis player with colorful outfits earlier in her career. She did not dazzle her fans with her obvious tennis talents, she also endeared fans to herself through her strange outfits. She once adorned herself at the US Open in 2002 with Lane Bryant black lycra catsuit. Amazing, isn’t it?
Lost her oldest sister
The Tennis world mourned with Serena Williams in 2003 when she lost her oldest sister, Yetunde Price at the fall of the year. She was murdered in Los Angeles. Too bad, evil people don’t care if one has a celebrity relative.
Movie role
Do you think Serena Williams can only play Tennis? You are wrong! Serena Williams also has acting skills. Alongside her sister, Venus, she featured for the first time in 2005 in the reality TV series called “Venus and Serena: For Real”. She had also featured in the movie “Black Knight” in 2001. Her scenes were, however, cut.
Certified nail technician
Besides Tennis and acting, she is also a certified nail technician. She became certified early in 2010. This was done as she prepared herself for an upcoming nail collection with HairTech.
Surgery
This is not so good. She underwent surgery in 2011. She did this in order to treat a blood clot in her lungs. It was successful and she was appointed as a UNICEF international goodwill ambassador later in the same year.
Maria Sharapova
The former World number 1 is another undoubtedly talented tennis star we are discussing in this article. She has registered her presence on the WTA tour consistently since 2001. She is a silver Olympic medalist and the youngest tennis player to win the WTA Championships.
Early endorsement
The signs of her success have been ominous since she was very young. She git her first endorsement deal when she was just 11. She was endorsed by NIKE.
Unusual mixed double targets
Maria Sharapova’s dream mixed double partners are not tennis players. She dreams of playing tennis with football superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo or Russian President, Vladimir Putin, or Prince William. Weird, right?
Tennis is not a hobby
You would be wrong if you think Tennis is one of her hobbies. Of all the hobbies of Maria Sharapova, interestingly, tennis is not one of them! Her hobbies include dancing, singing, watching movies and sleeping. She prefers sleeping to playing tennis? I am as surprised as you are!
World number one at 18
Interestingly, when Maria became the world number one in her career in 2005, she was just 18 years old. Mind-blowing, isn’t it? Her Tennis talent is indeed impressive for all to see.
Failed drug test
Maria was embroiled in a controversy in 2016 when she failed a drug test prior to Australian Open. She tested positive for meldonium. She was banned from playing tennis for two years initially by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It was, however, reduced to 15 moths in the long run.
Personal Candy line
Maria does not only dazzle on the tennis court, she is a serious-minded individual off it too. She has a successful candy line called “Sugarpova”.
Finds British accents sexy
If you are Briton guy, this might interest you. Maria finds the British accent sexy. Hence, it is not far-fetched that one of her favorite cities is London.
Charity
Maria Sharapova is also a humanitarian. She has a heart for the needy. This is the reason why she established the Maria Sharapova foundation. charity work by establishing Maria Sharapova Foundation. She uses this platform to donate and share her love towards others not as privileged as her in the society.
Fashion Model
Apart from Tennis, her popularity and beauty has earned her the opportunity to feature in various magazine cover pages. Her appearance on the cover of cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is one of the most prominent among the rest.
Highest paid female tennis player
Maria has been actively participating in professional tennis since 2001. Her remarkable success and consistency have made her earn as much as US$285 million. Hence, you should not be surprised that she is deemed the highest paid female athlete by Forbes. Fair reward for hard work, right?
Simona Halep
The last but not the last tennis athlete we are considering in this article is Simona Halep. He is one of the top-ranked WTA tennis players in the world. Below are some interesting facts about her you might never have come across before now:
Breast reduction surgery
Simona is a very brave person; she is not afraid to make tough decisions whenever necessary. Most ladies are looking forward to getting bigger breasts, reverse is the case for Simona Halep. She underwent breast reduction surgery in 2009 because she was not comfortable with the weight of her breasts. She said they hindered her from performing as much as she would have wanted. The results she has gotten since then has proven that she was correct to have made that important decision.
Tennis player boyfriend
You have been wondering about who is the lucky guy dating this pretty tennis player? I will you his name for free. His name is Radu Barbu. He is a former Romanian tennis player. True to form, the couples have never publicly spoken about their affair before. However, they were spotted having a nice time recently in Portofino, Italy.
Committed to family
Simona is an unusual star. In spite of her love for the game of tennis, she is much more committed to her family. In fact, she rates her family above her career. A perfect example of the unalloyed commitment she has to her family was seen in how that she missed the Olympics in Rio deliberately in order to spend more time with her family. She is convinced that her family will be all she has after her career. Hence, she treats them with utmost importance.
She won six events in 2013
2013 is one of the most successful years in Simona’s career. She won six tennis events she participated in for that year.
Incredible rise
She was raked 352 in 2008. Fast forward to 2014, she rose to become number 3 in the world, She is world number 1 in this moment. Amazing, isn’t it. This is a result of her focus and readiness to work hard and make sacrifices in order to achieve her dreams.
Conclusion
Celebrities are human beings just like every one of us. However, they have been able to distinguish themselves through sheer determination, hard work, and making the right decisions. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray could have become footballers. We never can tell if they would be as great and popular as they are today. You can reach for the stars. Go for your dreams, do what you believe you are good at. You may become one of the celebrities to be celebrated by the world sooner than you know.