By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Break dancing, bra strap-breaking and more. It's time for a romp through the lighter side of the tennis year that was.
Photo Source: AFP
2014 was a very serious year in many ways, with titles and legacies on the line, but leave it to the ATP and WTA Tours to go off-script to create some off-beat hilarity for the camera whenever the opportunity arose.
Here are our top 10 offbeat moments of 2014 – enjoy!
1. Li Na’s Australian Open Champion’s Speech: Needless to say, Li will be sorely missed in 2015. She wasn’t only a brilliant, trailblazing athlete, she was also pure comedic gold whenever she got behind a microphone.
2. Grigor Dimitrov gets pie in the face for birthday: Pie in the sky? How about pie in your eye, says Grigor’s taskmaster and coach, Roger Rasheed.
3. Gael’s magnifique header: Where football, tennis and showmanship meet, there is Gael Monfils.
4. Gulbis flirts, but ultimately stays single: Ernests, getting married? Far from it.
5. Federer’s absurd slapstick: Roger Federer keeps it ultra-loose while practicing his serve at this year’s US Open. Roger, did Stefan give you some horse tranquilizers?
6. Dance-off in the dirt: We’ve always known that footwork is crucial to good clay-court tennis, but Gael Monfils and Laurent Lokoli take it to a brand new level here…
7. Chair+Dudi+Ivo=Manhug: Dudi Sela is a genius. Watch this video 100 times, you will laugh each and every time.
8. Jelena Jankovic’s Wardrobe Malfunction: Bra strap goes snap, and Jelena being Jelena makes this an affair to remember.
9. Novak Djokovic chats up a ballkid in Paris, because why not? Love this bit of subtle, comedic genius by Nole. Very well-played by both.
10. Roger Federer’s dad smashes Fed with backhand: Suddenly, almost instantaneously, Roger Federer’s dad decides he is incredibly jealous of his son for always getting all the attention in the family. So what does he do? He lashes out.
11. (Because this one goes to eleven). Murray gives interview to a dog at Wimbledon: Most journalists would kill to interview Andy for the Wimbledon website, but this dog gets the gig and outshines them all.
12. (Because this one goes to twelve). Robredo Gives Murray the Double-Bird in Valencia: In an amazing oversight, this was originally left out of the countdown. Obviously, this one needs to go to 12. Pure, punkish, and good-natured brilliance from Robredo after failing to convert match points against Murray for the second time this season.