Players' names you find somewhat strange?

The Grand Slam

The Grand Slam

Hall of Fame
Not quite sure how to put it. Just wanted to post a thread to see which pro players' names you find/found somewhat strange in any way. A few:

- Mardy Fish. .. O__o

- Ivan Ljubicic. When I was a tennis noob and couldn't pronounce any foreign players' names correctly, I was like.. wtf? Eye-van Luh-joo-buh-sissy? Luh-joo-buh-kick? O____O

- Mario Ancic. Same as above. I wasn't quite sure what to make of this one.

- Juan Monaco. It isn't actually quite as weird, just a little bit funny. I first heard of him at Aus Open '06, when he was playing Jean-Rene Lisnard in the first round. The funny thing about that was that Lisnard is from Monaco. XD

- Gaston (Gaudio) and Richard Gasquet. When I first saw these two names, I thought, 'Wow, there must be a lot of bad smells on the tour.' :D

- Sargis Sargsian. It almost looks like Sargis Sargis. <_<

- Younes El Aynaoui. 'Nuff said. I couldn't pronounce this one until a week ago.

- In comparison, Kristof (Vliegen) and Christophe (Rochus). I mean, make up your freaking mind...

Anyway, that's all for now. It's a very strange list, but... yeah.
 
The Grand Slam

The Grand Slam

Hall of Fame
Hahaha, yes... I forgot to do the women.

- Bychkova and Sprem... as mentioned above. I don't think these ones need an explanation. :s

- Smashnova and Obziler. They aren't so much strange as they are awesome. ;D Smashnova just sounds freaking cool.

- Kournikova. When I was younger and heard about her, I would always think of corn ('Kourni; corny') when I heard her name. o_o

Might think of some more later.
 
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The Grand Slam

The Grand Slam

Hall of Fame
LarougeNY said:
hantuchova
ferrer/ferrero
Click to expand...

On certain scoreboards where they only use the first three letters (ie the Masters Series one) of a player's last name, I wondered how they'd do Ferrer v Ferrero. Turned out to be:

FER
JCF

And dima, plzkthx, take your wannabe-leetness into another thread.
 
P

patrick922

Semi-Pro
how about vera douchevina. i believe she asked her name to be changed to vera dushevina. it could be because she realized what her name means or because russian has a different alphabet and you can spell it in different ways.
 
P

patrick922

Semi-Pro
The Grand Slam said:
I know. She was a top junior wasn't she?
Click to expand...

Vera Dushevina (VEH-rah doo-SHEH-vee-nuh; Russian: Вера Душевина; born October 6, 1986) is a Russian professional female tennis player. She was born in Moscow but now resides in Khimki, Russia.

In 2005 she reached her first WTA singles final at Eastbourne where she finished runner up to former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters of Belgium. In 2006, she changed her family name into Dushevina.

She is a winner of the Wimbledon girls' title in 2002, where she defeated Maria Sharapova in the finals.


.......i wonder why she changed it??lol
 
M

Mr. Sean

Rookie
I cant believe someone forgot to put dominik hrbaty. (her body) not to mention he wears pink skin tight tops with the shoulder portions cut out.
 
DueSouth

DueSouth

Semi-Pro
Freedom said:
Federer- cause being Feder just ain't enough! :D
Click to expand...

Lol he has an 'er' for each of the grand slams tournys that he has won atleast once......when he finally wins the French he will be Rogerer Federer

Weird names:
hmmm.....i always used to get confused with Gael Monfils....cos i thort it was sed MON-FLIS not MON-FIS
The Ferrer and Ferrero is odd
Bob and Mike Bryan.....as much as i love them everytime i hear it said i think of a building company like 'Bob and Mike Bryan Builders LTD.'
NA-DAL or NAY-DAHL?
Anybody with the first name Guillermo because im not sure how to pronounce it.
Konstantinos Economidis.....phew what a mouthful
 
R

rhubarb

Hall of Fame
The Grand Slam said:
Not quite sure how to put it. Just wanted to post a thread to see which pro players' names you find/found somewhat strange in any way. A few:

- Mardy Fish. .. O__o
Click to expand...

I remember BBC radio interviewing Mardy after a match in Nottingham a couple of years ago, and they brought up his "wierd" name. He seemed surprised that they weren't commenting on his surname (Fish is quite a common name here in the UK so wouldn't raise any eyebrows), but his first name: "mardy" means grumpy or petulant here.
 
noeledmonds

noeledmonds

Professional
Please someone close this awful thread. It is at best bad taste, and at worst descriminatory and possibly racist. If you are going to laugh at the names of "foreigners" at least have the common decency to keep your thoughts to yourself.
 
DueSouth

DueSouth

Semi-Pro
noeledmonds said:
Please someone close this awful thread. It is at best bad taste, and at worst descriminatory and possibly racist. If you are going to laugh at the names of "foreigners" at least have the common decency to keep your thoughts to yourself.
Click to expand...

I dont think we are laughing at names....i was just stating the ones which are hard to pronounce and the ones i was taking the mick out of were stereotypical english names e.g. Bob and Mike Bryan
 
TheGreatestAudia

TheGreatestAudia

Rookie
You all were laughing at them and you know it. This has no purpose whatsoever. I'm now dumber than I was ten minutes ago for reading this thread. Thanks...
 
R

retrowagen

Hall of Fame
A lot of these foreign (to English-speakers) surnames sound odd in English, but in their homeland, they're quite normal and likely not comical at all; they wouldn't see the humor in it.

I myself speak five languages, including English, and have traveled throughout Europe and South America, and have discovered one really can't be too put off by an odd-sounding name, unless you want to start a minor international incident.

Some of my favorite names from the tennis world:

Slobodan Zivojinovic (pronounced in English as Slow-BOW-Dan Zee-Voh-Yin-Oh-Vitch, quite a mouthful)

Andy Roddick (last name, in English, is so close to "erotic" that it can't be said casually without some pause)

Oh, and FYI, the surname, Federer, is German or Swiss-German for "Fletcher," that is, the tradesperson who puts feathers (fletching) on arrows. And it's properly pronounced, "Fay-DUR-Air", not "Fed-ur-ur"
 
Starlite

Starlite

Semi-Pro
Strangest name I've come across, Gorka Fraile (ESP).

I always get Jiri Novak, Jiri Vanek, Jan Hajek, and Jan Hernych confused.

Also, I often forget if it's Simon Gilles or Gilles Simon.

Radek Stepanek is a pretty amusing name. And so is Eduard Schwank (ARG).
Go Soeda (JAP) too.

There's also two Thai twin doubles specialists, Sonchai and Sonchat Ratiswatana (sp?).

There's a bunch of players with 3 names, like JCF (Juan Carlos Ferrero), MVA (Martin Vassalo Arguello), PHM (Paul-Henri Mathieu), GGL (Guillermo Garcia Lopez), Ivan Navarro Pastor, Jo-Wilifried Tsonga, and RRH (Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo). I can only think of one 4-namer, Juan Martin Del Potro.

I always wondered how to pronounce Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS).

And of course, Andrea Agazzi (ITA) ranked 1028. :mrgreen:
 
samej07

samej07

Rookie
how about Novak Djokovic. it always sound kinda like someone with 2 last names and no first name to me.

and for the Americans:

Jan-Michael Gambill - ???

Justin Gimelstob - i can never get his last name right. i always put a B in after the m. gimbelstob:)
 
Andres

Andres

G.O.A.T.
retrowagen said:
A lot of these foreign (to English-speakers) surnames sound odd in English, but in their homeland, they're quite normal and likely not comical at all; they wouldn't see the humor in it.

I myself speak five languages, including English, and have traveled throughout Europe and South America, and have discovered one really can't be too put off by an odd-sounding name, unless you want to start a minor international incident.

Some of my favorite names from the tennis world:

Slobodan Zivojinovic (pronounced in English as Slow-BOW-Dan Zee-Voh-Yin-Oh-Vitch, quite a mouthful)

Andy Roddick (last name, in English, is so close to "erotic" that it can't be said casually without some pause)

Oh, and FYI, the surname, Federer, is German or Swiss-German for "Fletcher," that is, the tradesperson who puts feathers (fletching) on arrows. And it's properly pronounced, "Fay-DUR-Air", not "Fed-ur-ur"
Click to expand...
Actually a Swiss person told me Federer should be pronounced: Fee-der-er :p
 
O

OrangeOne

Legend
2003 AO QF: Q Ferrero, Juan Carlos (ESP) v. Ferreira, Wayne (RSA)

Being a QF, it was covered on radio. Yes, radio. I listened just for the fun of it, and boy....was it funny. Juan to Wayne, Ferreria to Ferrero, etc etc.
 
S

slice bh compliment

G.O.A.T.
For me, in tennis, the coolest name to pronounce has always been the one and only Vic Seixas.

Vitas Gerulaitis is a good one, but then again, so is his siter's name, Ruta Gerulaitis (I know she is a cool lady, but wow, that name sounds like an infection of the digestive system).

Lucas Arnold, from Argentina.
Frederico Browne.

I like saying Eleni Daniilidou and Stella....Sampras. And Gabriela Sabatini. Hell, I even like saying Rory Sabbatini and I don't even like golf.

Who could forget Yannick Noah, especially if you say it in French.;)

Nduka Odizor.
Jaroslav Drobny.
Paddy Rafter.

Ilie Nastase. The guy had no choice but to be called Nasty. His buffoonery was besides the point?

Hans Jorgen Pohmann.
Boris Becker. (It's only funny when Russian guys say it).

Alex Metreveli. I think Metreveli is a Georgian name. Translation: valley of well groomed men?

I remember seeing Andre's name near the top of the first national junior tournament I got into. Not having heard of him (other than in print), I thought it was pronounced A-GASS-i. He and, I think, Francisco Montana were two of the top seeds. I always thought those were some smooth names.

Tommy Ho. Tommy Haas.

Rodolphe Gilbert.
Gilbert Schaller.
Brad Gilbert.

Elly Vines. It just always sounded a little feminine.
Bunny Austin (a man, baby).
Budge Patty. (woman, man or sandwich?)

Dick Savitt. (just sounds like a penis that knows everything)

Tut Bartzen.
Zan Guerry.
Lou Gloria (which reads like a cocktail napkin at an Italian-American wedding)
Jai DiLouie.
Jay Lapidus (the name of a fast rabbit?)
Wendy Turnbull

Haroon Ishmael
Ramesh Krishnan (sounds like it would mean that he is a bit like a Ram, but also a little like a Hindu diety, too)

There was a kid who played college tennis a few years back: Vuk Tapuskovic? Great name.
Julien Jeanpierre. It sounds so smooth and French, it's almost made up.

Joakim Nystrom. Anders Jarryd. Henrik Sundstrom. Hendrick Dreekmann. Marc Goellner (which sounds like Girl-ner).
Vincent Spadea. What is that: Italian, Spanish....or is he a brotha?
 
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P

patrick922

Semi-Pro
Andres Guazzelli said:
Actually a Swiss person told me Federer should be pronounced: Fee-der-er :p
Click to expand...

in standard german federer is pronounced FAy-dur~ah.... cause the e between f and d actually makes an 'eh' [like how canadians say eh]. but who knows, a swiss can pronounce it differently, since swiss german is different from german.

.......Hartzy should know.........
 
SoBad

SoBad

G.O.A.T.
patrick922 said:
Vera Dushevina (VEH-rah doo-SHEH-vee-nuh; Russian: Вера Душевина; born October 6, 1986) is a Russian professional female tennis player. She was born in Moscow but now resides in Khimki, Russia.

In 2005 she reached her first WTA singles final at Eastbourne where she finished runner up to former World No. 1 Kim Clijsters of Belgium. In 2006, she changed her family name into Dushevina.

She is a winner of the Wimbledon girls' title in 2002, where she defeated Maria Sharapova in the finals.


.......i wonder why she changed it??lol
Click to expand...

To clarify some confusion, Vera never changed her name and never moved to a new home.

Names in Russian passports used to be transliterated in French until a few years ago, when English transliteration became more prevalent. "Douchevina" is the correct French transliteration, whereas "Dushevina" is the correct English transliteration. I bet the "name change" has nothing to do with the dirty, but was rather copied from the passport, where roman transliteration changed when she got a new passport.

Khimki is a suburb of Moscow where Vera grew up and calls home to this day.
 
P

patrick922

Semi-Pro
SoBad said:
To clarify some confusion, Vera never changed her name and never moved to a new home.

Names in Russian passports used to be transliterated in French until a few years ago, when English transliteration became more prevalent. "Douchevina" is the correct French transliteration, whereas "Dushevina" is the correct English transliteration. I bet the "name change" has nothing to do with the dirty, but was rather copied from the passport, where roman transliteration changed when she got a new passport.

Khimki is a suburb of Moscow where Vera grew up and calls home to this day.
Click to expand...

thanks for the clarification. that would make sense because the root '******' is in fact french. any other names that had this happen?
 
SoBad

SoBad

G.O.A.T.
patrick922 said:
thanks for the clarification. that would make sense because the root '******' is in fact french. any other names that had this happen?
Click to expand...

I have not seen it happen with others, but I would guess that most other players used transliteration that they saw fit when entering junior tournaments overseas, rather than just copying transliteration from the passport. Frankly, I think names like Charapoff, Kournikoff, or Koroleuff would sound too pretentious and "blue blood" to put in in a 21st century tennis tournament draw, whereas "Safine" would invariable get badly mispronounced as "SA-FAIN". Perhaps Vera's team did not see anything wrong with the French transliteration in the original passport.
 
Deuce

Deuce

Banned
When I was a kid, I used to get Vitas Gerulaitis and Guillermo Vilas mixed up, because each one's name is almost the reverse of the other's.

Slice wrote:
"Vitas Gerulaitis is a good one, but then again, so is his siter's name, Ruta Gerulaitis (I know she is a cool lady, but wow, that name sounds like an infection of the digestive system)."

Aye...
I once read a humorous piece which referred to "an acute case of Vitas Gerulaitis"...

I always thought that the name 'Christo Van Rensburg' sounded more like the name of a great painter or a Maestro than that of a mere pro tennis player.

Claudia Kohde-Kilsch.

You old farts will remember Bettina Bunge... and the dreams she inspired.
 
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