What is the most fun you've ever had watching pro tennis?

RudyHuxtable

RudyHuxtable

Semi-Pro
can be a specific match, tournament, or period of time.

For me, it was 2010-2012, end of 2013-AO 2014. Really enjoy watching matches from 03-07 and mid 90s.
More specifically, watching Stan catch fire at the Aussie live from a hotel in Boston was a blast.

Least fun I've had following the tour would probably have to be the last year or so.

How about everyone else?
 
Interesting question! For me, I'd say 1995. Also on the edge of my seat watching the 2001 Agassi-Sampras US Open match...and Agassi's entire 1994 US Open journey. I've been impressed by the level of tennis in recent years but felt it was more exciting and less predictable before.
 
Davis Cup Carson, CA. Big enthusiastic, partisan crowd. Cold beer. Unfortunately, Ivan Lubijic took matters into his own hands and beat Roddick and Agassi, in the singles and beat the Bryans in doubles.

US Open Tursanov V Kuerten (sp). Night match on Armstrong. Stereotypical NY crowd. It was like a Davis Cup environment. Half the crowd was for each player. Guga packed his bags and began to walk off because too many people were cheering against him. That didn't go over well with the crowd and things got worse.
 
Murray playing 3 (?) straight days in singles and doubles to deliver the UK the Davis Cup.... was pretty cool to behold. Djoker's Muary/Rafa AO'12 double was pretty awesome.
 
Wimbledon 2013, up until the semis

Nadal getting Darcised, Fed fans gloating only for Fed to get Stakhassinated days later; and Djokovic playing relatively well
 
Dunno. I had a couple of Majors, where I just watched like 40 matches and didn't really do anything else, expect play tennis during the afternoon. Made my bed on the couch. Didn't have work. Good times.
 
The whole year of 2014: it was the first time for me watching tennis in depth, Federer started channeling the spirit of the 20th century, and the slams were compelling on both the WTA and ATP.

For an individual tournament, it would be between Cincinnati '15 or Wimbledon '14.
 
RSH said:
The whole year of 2014: it was the first time for me watching tennis in depth, Federer started channeling the spirit of the 20th century, and the slams were compelling on both the WTA and ATP.

For an individual tournament, it would be between Cincinnati '15 or Wimbledon '14.
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Damn, you got to the party right when someone finished off all the drinks and spicy meatballs :o
 
A couple Chanda Rubin matches. I know her name is not mentioned with the greats but she played Davenport in a final in 2002 and I remember she was so down in the match.. and in the second set Davenport hit a ball that would have been a clean winner, it nipped the tape, dropped in where Chanda was... Chanda hit a forehand so hard I think the ball almost exploded. Got to the second set tiebreak and then ran with the third and final set.

Then an older match of hers were she was down like 0-5 15-40 and won it.
 
There was a string of years when it appeared Gabriella Sabatini had the number of Steffi Graf on HC and clay! I can still vividly remember a final of theirs in '91; probably Amelia Island! They were battling for a couple hours in brutal heat and humidity with Graf going ahead in the 1st set 5-3 before Gabby decided to change her clothes! They were entitled to 2 breaks and they were used quite strategically and came back to break Steffi and break again to close it out 7-5! The 2nd set pretty much went the same way with Graf having a 5-2 lead only to allow Gabby to win a TB! Those were some great match to watch; including the 1 she lost at Wimbledon in '91! Graf had to break twice when Gabby was serving for it! ;-/
 
Dustin Brown beating Nadal at Wimbledon

And

The Wimbledon 2008 final (although I wanted Federer to win)
 
I think for me it had to be the '09 AO Nadal Verdasco match. Hands down the most amazing shot making. I was out of my seat multiple times while watching. I think myself being a lefty made it just that much better to watch as well.
 
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SumYungGai said:
I think for me it had to be the '09 AO Nadal Verdasco match. Hands down the most amazing shot making. I was out of my seat multiple times while watching. I think myself being a lefty made it just that much better to watch as well.
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Nadal is epic ;) the semi and final of AO-09 were definitely jump out of your seat-fistpump, wtf am I watching?!? Moments :D
 
bigserving said:
...US Open Tursanov V Kuerten (sp). Night match on Armstrong...
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It was a day match (like all Armstrong matches) that started late and went into the night.

Some guy next to me courtside kept heckling (he was not as annoying as Guga's fan base) Guga and Guga tried to have the guy ejected. Security come down but only moved him back. You can't toss a guy out just because he cheers when you double fault. Especially if you're going to serve alcohol. ;)
 
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if it's a period of time, i'd say watching the night session matches of the US open in the 90's... until early morning (for me) on TV !
i loved this electric atmosphere......
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All of 2009 was a lot of fun. Particularly Federer winning RG is probably the best I've ever felt while watching tennis. 2012 is a close second not just for Wimbledon, but for Dubai, Rotterdam, IW, Madrid and Cincy. I was so happy and impressed that Federer was playing that well at a relatively advanced tennis age. Two matches (outside Wimbledon) in particular stick out. The IW and WTF SF's. Nadal usually stops Federer even when he's playing great so I was concerned about that match, but Federer played awesome. And then at the end of the year I remember a lot of people on here saying Murray was the favourite on form which I agreed with, but Federer won that one also.

Honourable mentions:

Federer vs Djokovic 2011 RG SF
The 2008 Wimbledon final. Not the result I had hoped for, but certainly the biggest "roller coaster" of emotions I ever had watching a tennis match
Agassi vs Blake 2005 USO QF (and Agassi's whole run).
 
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04, 09 were really fun. 12 was good too. In a single tournament 02 USO is up there. I also felt that 2000 is a really great underrated year. 95 was great for the Sampras-Agassi struggle.
 
2009 had some fun slams to watch. Would have been one of the best years to watch if Nadal was healthy all year and didn't miss time. The Australian was amazing to watch that year, Wimbledon had fun matches.


Most fun was watching 1996 USO. Sampras/Corretja was the greatest match Ive ever seen next to Sampras/Agassi at the USO in 2001. Nothing like watching a match continuing to go on while one guy is puking on the side of the court multiple times
 
The Delpo/Djokovic tiebreak was one time I remember that was a lot of fun, was watching with friends and we were going crazy.
 
bitcoinoperated said:
I think I was more in a state of fear he'd manage to find way to screw up. The 4(?) MPs were hell, it was tortuous rather than fun!
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I was cheering for him on that day as well. That last game was pure craziness. At 40-0 I just thought "Ok he needs one more point, and Novak looks like he's fried in the sun." But he just couldn't win that last point for so long. And then Novak had 2 or 3 BP's and I thought "This can't be the way Murray is going to lose this." Up 2 sets and 3 MP's after what was it, 77 years? I was literally envisioning a Djokovic comeback at that point. And then I said "Please God, let Murray win." Nobody deserves to lose like this especially after the previous year when he lost to Federer and gave the tearful speech.
 
Being at Cincinnati 2013. Corporate suite. Watching both men's and women's semifinals.


robertavinci.JPG

Roberta Vinci crushing Serena's CYGS hopes was a fun one to watch.
 
Mid 90s (when I started watching tennis) to early/mid 00s. So much variety in the game, different styles, surprise champions, lots of different personalities.

Players like Kuerten, Moya, Rios, Rafter, Ivanisevic, Becker, Krajicek, Arthurs, clay court specialists like Mantilla, Bruguera & Costa, Safin emerging out of nowhere in 2000 and taking over,super aggressive young Roddick, early Fed…and oh yeah, Pete and Andre.

I feel very privileged to have watched tennis during this time.
 
Shaolin said:
Mid 90s (when I started watching tennis) to early/mid 00s. So much variety in the game, different styles, surprise champions, lots of different personalities.

Players like Kuerten, Moya, Rios, Rafter, Ivanisevic, Becker, Krajicek, Arthurs, clay court specialists like Mantilla, Bruguera & Costa, Safin emerging out of nowhere in 2000 and taking over,super aggressive young Roddick, early Fed…and oh yeah, Pete and Andre.

I feel very privileged to have watched tennis during this time.
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If you think variety was the spice of life then, you should have grown up in my era with Borg, Vilas, Connors, Orantes, Ramirez, Gerulaitus, Nastase, Newcombe, Laver, Rosewall, Ashe, McEnroe, Tanner, The Bagel Twins (Solomon/Dibbs), and so many other colorful characters! That isn't even counting some of the best doubles players who made their mark; Smith/Lutz, Gottfried/Ramirez, Hewitt/McMillan, Stewart/McNair, Connors/Nastase, & even Borg/Vilas! Yep, singles stars played doubles! :rolleyes: :p ;)
 
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90's Clay said:
.. Sampras/Corretja was the greatest match Ive ever seen next to Sampras/Agassi at the USO in 2001. Nothing like watching a match continuing to go on while one guy is puking on the side of the court multiple times
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I was courtside for both. :D Both were great but I rate the Corretja match as better. Pete losing to Yzaga was fun too.
 
A couple. The 08 and 09 Australian finals were fun because I was in college and even though no one else really followed tennis they stayed up with me to watch the matches. I still gets texts from those guys, who now follow the game to some degree.
Similarly, I was at a college party and put on one of the Roddick v. Federer Miami matches and everyone was rooting for Federer even though I pleaded with them to stop. I was over the moon when Andy won.

But the single most fun has got to be the 08 Wimbledon final. Every time I'd sunk completely into the match -- boom, rain. People kept coming in and out of the house all day long, like, this match is still happening?! Very drama.


As for a time period, as a Nadal fan, got to go with the 08 channel slam period and 2010.
 
Steve0904 said:
I was cheering for him on that day as well. That last game was pure craziness. At 40-0 I just thought "Ok he needs one more point, and Novak looks like he's fried in the sun." But he just couldn't win that last point for so long. And then Novak had 2 or 3 BP's and I thought "This can't be the way Murray is going to lose this." Up 2 sets and 3 MP's after what was it, 77 years? I was literally envisioning a Djokovic comeback at that point. And then I said "Please God, let Murray win." Nobody deserves to lose like this especially after the previous year when he lost to Federer and gave the tearful speech.
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Murray is excruciating, I always feel that he is moments from managing to screw up no matter what position he is in. The 5 setters in early rounds of wimbledon this year...
 
Watching Agassi play in person many times. I've never seen anyone strike the ball as he did off both wings. For whatever reason, Andre's humongous FH never looked that great on TV. In person, it was jaw dropping.
 
tacou said:
A couple. The 08 and 09 Australian finals were fun because I was in college and even though no one else really followed tennis they stayed up with me to watch the matches. I still gets texts from those guys, who now follow the game to some degree.
Similarly, I was at a college party and put on one of the Roddick v. Federer Miami matches and everyone was rooting for Federer even though I pleaded with them to stop. I was over the moon when Andy won.

But the single most fun has got to be the 08 Wimbledon final. Every time I'd sunk completely into the match -- boom, rain. People kept coming in and out of the house all day long, like, this match is still happening?! Very drama.


As for a time period, as a Nadal fan, got to go with the 08 channel slam period and 2010.
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08 was epic.
 
metsman said:
95 was great for the Sampras-Agassi struggle.
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I was 9 years old back then, but already watching tennis. I even remember that I already realised the intensity between these 2 giants. Now, more than 20 years later, I have the feeling that it was a bit overhyped.

They meet “only” 5 times in 1995, and (more important) only on hardcourt. And this was the best year of their rivalry. So no comparison to Djokovic-Nadal, Federer-Nadal or Federer-Djokovic, but still a great rivalry of course.


For me, the biggest thrills as a tennis fan were the RG finals 2006 and 2007. Can Federer overcome the biggest obstacle of them all and go on for a CYGS? Obviously, the answer was “No”, but it wasn’t so obvious back then!


10 other memorable moments (without mentioning the newer and self-evident ones like Wimbledon 2008 etc.):

- French Open 1993: Just for being my very first GS tournament to watch

- Wimbledon 1993: The re-match between Becker and Stich in the QF was intense with Becker prevailing (would like to see it again, but found it nowhere).

- Australian Open 1995: I was rooting for Sampras (as always back then) who survived two 2-set-deficites in a row including that epic match against Courier when he was in tears due to illness of his coach. Sadly he lost the final to Agassi at the end.

- US Open 1995: This time a women’s match: The Graf-Seles final was their first meeting after Seles’ comeback and it was quite dramatic.

- Australian Open 1996: Becker’s last GS title (watched with my grandma at 4 AM).

- Indoor Season 1996: Sampras vs Becker (3 matches: The Stuttgart and Masters Cup finals and the forgotten Masters Cup RR which was also great).

- French Open 1999: Steffi Graf wins her last GS against Hingis who was on the verge of a mental collapse.

- French Open 2000: The Kuerten-Norman final with Guga converting his 10th MP. I was neutral that match, but wanted a 5th set badly after that dramatic development.

- Wimbledon 2001: Firstly the Federer-Sampras match (still as a Sampras fan). I was so sad at that time, but now I love this match. After that I rooted for Ivanisevic in the final as nearly every tennis fan did.

- French Open 2004: SF Henman vs Coria: Henman seemed to beat Coria with S&V on clay, but just came short. Would have been amazing if he’d reached his only GS final at RG.
 
Watching live tennis, I'd have to say Shanghai Masters 2014. Was able to watch so many great matches in ONE day, including Lopez's upset of Nadal, Djokovic beating a young Thiem, Sock's victory over Nishikori, Dimitrov losing to Benneteau (but nonetheless playing very well), Simon upsetting Wawrinka, and to TOP it all that last match where Roger saved all those match points in beating Mayer! What a great day! :)
 
Terenigma said:

/thread

Also if you somehow have never heard or watched this match before. Start the video at 14:20 and just watch in awe.
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I have to admit that fifth set was probably some of the most fun I have had in recent years watching tennis. So many of my non tennis friends were messaging me asking me who that guy was. It was crazy! The match ended up becoming iconic, watching it I knew this was something that will be talked about for many years to come.
 
Hitman said:
I have to admit that fifth set was probably some of the most fun I have had in recent years watching tennis. So many of my non tennis friends were messaging me asking me who that guy was. It was crazy! The match ended up becoming iconic, watching it I knew this was something that will be talked about for many years to come.
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I thought the same when it happened, but it wasn't the case for one reason: What seemed to be a unique Rosol moment just turned into the usual Nadal moment at Wimbledon in the years after.
 
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