What was the exact moment you became a fan of tennis?

Raining hopes

Raining hopes

Hall of Fame
I was actually watching since late 2002 because of my brother. I wasn't that bothered about the sport.

It was 2005 WB that truly made me a Fraud and tennis fan. However I seriously started around 2006 Clay season and my interest peaked in 2008-09
 
D

Deleted member 756486

Guest
This match.
I wasn’t into tennis at all before watching this. I don’t even know why I watched Wimbledon final that year because tennis didn’t interest me in the slightest but I was pleasantly surprised. :p

Appreciated what Nadal did and liked his style but it was Fed that wowed me.
 
clout

clout

Hall of Fame
I always viewed tennis as a country club sport until I saw Andre Agassi at the 1999 French Open. There was something about Andre's raw emotion and overall perseverance after that victory of his that initially got me into tennis. Then, it was Roger Federer who flat out amazed me in the early 2000's when he first began to own the tour but by 2006 ish, I was beginning to get a bit tired of watching one man win everything so tennis took a backseat for a year or so until I causally tuned into the first part of the Nadal-Federer sequel at Wimbledon 2007 and again in 2008. Prior to me initially putting tennis as an alternative sport to watch, I had always viewed Nadal as a clay specialist but these two Wimbledon finals quickly changed my mind. With Nadal, Federer as well as the later additions of Djokovic and Murray (to a lesser extent), tennis has once again become arguably my fav sport to watch
 
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clout

clout

Hall of Fame
paranoidandroid said:
I’d say AO 2009 was better than Wimbledon 2008 even though the fifth set was disappointing.

Wimbledon 2008 is a great match but highly overrated.

Sorry @REKX
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I think it was more about the stakes the match held that made it so memorable to many tennis fans/pundits. Was Nadal finally gonna dethrone Fed at his house in Wimby and finally become "THE GUY" in tennis or was Fed gonna restore all orders by winning and proving that not only Wimbledon but the whole tour was still his.

Overall, I think the stakes/storyline along with the fact that it was a finals at Wimbledon (the most prestigious place in tennis), which made it so popular.
 
Devin

Devin

Professional
Plamen1234 said:
2004.The first Federer match I watched was with Hewitt at Wimbledon that year
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That was an entertaining Wimbledon. You had the most fun version of Federer to watch, so dynamic in terms of play and so clutch and fearless. Puts up a good match with two masterclass sets against Hewitt, a nice clinic against Grosjean, and the final against on-fire Roddick with fearless hitting. Karlovic match was also entertaining (posted highlights of those some time ago).
 
D

Deleted member 756486

Guest
clout said:
I think it was more about the stakes the match held that made it so memorable to many tennis fans/pundits. Was Nadal finally gonna dethrone Fed at his house in Wimby and become "THE GUY" in tennis or was Fed gonna restore all orders by winning and proving that not only Wimbledon but the whole tour was still his.

Overall, I think the stakes/storyline along with the fact that it was a finals at Wimbledon (the most prestigious place in tennis) that made it so popular.
Click to expand...
Yeah for sure the stakes were higher and the drama was more enticing but the actual match is inferior to AO 2009 imo.
 
swordtennis

swordtennis

G.O.A.T.
Grandpa always watched tennis and boxing on tv. First players i remember were connors borg and mac late 70s. Too young to know who or what was going on. 80s that is when i started knowing. Connors 82 wimbledon.
 
kOaMaster

kOaMaster

Hall of Fame
My grandfather always watched tennis and I often joined him. I started following tennis (=became a Federer Fan) closely after the Rosset - Federer final in Marseille, 2000. Not that I dislike Rosset, not at all - but in this match, I would've loved to see the kid from my hometown winning and thought he was the better player and should've won.
I also realised, that Federer (who already was more or less known but not too well) was actually the guy I have seen a couple of times at the FC Basel stadium. Big plus! ;)
 
ChaelAZ

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
A friend of mine in HS played tennis for the team and was going on about those guys in the mid 80's. I had watched matches as a kid because my Dad was in HS tennis himself, so I did catch some later 70's matches, but really in HS was when it all clicked for me. The first big WOW moment was in the late 80's with Michael Chang on clay vs. Lendl. That was when I got hooked.
 
R

Ruark

Professional
Back in the late 70s and early 80s, some people I knew watched pro tennis for the thrills and personalities (Connors, Mac, Vitas, Borg, etc.) even though they didn't even own a racket. There would be a big match and you'd see all these non-players talking about it at work the next day. You'd think it was the Super Bowl or something. What "pushed my button," so to speak, as far as motivating me to go out and buy a racket, was the McEnroe/Connors 1980 Wimbledon semifinal. It was so intense, my eyeballs dried out from not blinking, and it is/was considered by some to be the greatest match of all time. Then of course, the epic Borg/McEnroe final, which was icing on the cake.

 
Azure

Azure

G.O.A.T.
Rafter-ivanisevic finals wimbly... Prior to that, I only watched the slam semis and finals as a casual viewer. It was this final that turned me into a fan of the sport.
 
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travlerajm

travlerajm

Talk Tennis Guru
Edberg in the late 80s was the first guy who I found myself rooting for, and then modeling my game after.
 
True Fanerer

True Fanerer

G.O.A.T.
Would occasionally watch in the mid 90's-2001 whenever I saw Agassi, Sampras, Rafter, and Guga. Really got into the 2001 Wimbledon tournament keeping up with Rafter. I remember NBC switched over from whatever match was on(can't remember) to Federer vs Sampras. That along with the final between Rafter/Ivanisevic got me hooked. Was pulling for Ivanisevic before it was all over with. I watched the final on a family vacation while the whole family went out but me lol. They all thought I was crazy.

*I'll add something which I neglected to say earlier. I found myself rooting for the older players like Agassi etc while keeping an eye on Federer and his progress. I was slowly but surely becoming a Fed fan. The 2005 UO final between them solidified it for me as I saw Federer sending Agassi on his way out. It's one of my favorite matches.
 
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D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
Wimbledon 2008

It’s a strange story but BBC radio was in the background at the office. I stayed in all night listening to the radio broadcasting, this was in China.

When the staff arrived the next morning I was asleep at my desk.
 
C

coolboarder

Rookie
1992 Wimbledon Gentlemen double final featuring McEnroe/Stitch that went long in the 5th set where they actually had to finish up on Monday with 19-17 in the 5th set. That was my first exposure to tennis. Without that 5th set, I wouldn't even be a tennis fan today.
 
Rabin

Rabin

Professional
RG Final 2007, watched it with my brother who is a Federer fan. Got hooked on Nadal and tennis by the whole and never stopped.
 
VaporDude95

VaporDude95

Banned
paranoidandroid said:
This match.
I wasn’t into tennis at all before watching this. I don’t even know why I watched Wimbledon final that year because tennis didn’t interest me in the slightest but I was pleasantly surprised. :p

Appreciated what Nadal did and liked his style but it was Fed that wowed me.
Click to expand...

So weird seeing Wimbledon centre court without the upper structure on it.
 
HetTheGreaterer

HetTheGreaterer

Banned
Raining hopes said:
I was actually watching since late 2002 because of my brother. I wasn't that bothered about the sport.

It was 2005 WB that truly made me a Fraud and tennis fan. However I seriously started around 2006 Clay season and my interest peaked in 2008-09
Click to expand...


1992 Wimbledon.. I was only 4.xx years old. Was watching cricket match (dont know which) with my family at evening time, suddenly it started raining and cricket channel's signal lost, dad just kept on changing channels and by fluke, another sports channel had a nice signal, on which, one of the agassi matches was being shown at that time (don't know if it was live or repeat). I was like, okay its a different type of cricket :)p:p), lets watch this. And as I grew up, I became more of a tennis fan, I have been watching every match of big players from 1996 onwards....
Watching agassi going from a hair-forest to baldness...
And initially, at my teenhood, I was cursing fed a lot when he beat pete sampras at wimby2001, I was like shouting on him, and was wishing that this poney-tail haired, girlish looking swiss idiot may never win a match after this sampras upset:mad::mad::mad::mad: (Lol at me)
Then came his 2002 hamburg triumph, and eventually he became my favourite player...
 
kevaninho

kevaninho

Hall of Fame
Being a Brit my first tennis memories was watching Tim Henman trying to win Wimbledon every year LOL For a guy who had a very average game, but good grass game, he came close on so many occasions that I think the drama of it all was what got me into tennis.
Wimbledon was all the TV access we had to tennis back then until Henman reached the FO semi 04, and I remember it being televised , and it seemed interesting the different style of tennis being played.
Then obviously the Federer and Nadal explosion came next and tennis became my favourite sport above football then.
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
Agassi and Wheaton at Wimbledon 1991. Agassi became my guy. Wimbledon was on every year in my house but this match pulled me in. Mum was cheering on Agassi as well. Was funny, the matches I had with my cousin playing on the street. I'd be Agassi and he'd be Seles. Yeah, that's fair. lol

Then he came back to win the next year. Good times.
 
Shaolin

Shaolin

Talk Tennis Guru
Seeing Sampras play in 1994 did it for me. Made the game look different than any other player I'd seen before, more power and athleticism by far.

Had never touched a racquet till then. I went out and bought one and never stopped playing.
 
Darrell

Darrell

Rookie
It all started for me in my first year of high school (1997). Prior to that point, I knew absolutely nothing about tennis. I only started playing because our physical education teacher made us play in the spring. However, I was instantly hooked after picking up the racquet. I started watching tennis like crazy, reading books, etc. I remember watching Hingis, who was only two years older than me, dominate the women's game that year. She would have won the official grand slam that year if not for her loss to Iva Majoli in the Final of the French, which I watched. Agassi was my guy on the men's side, even though 97 wasn't a great year for him. I've watched so many enthralling matches over the past 21 years that I can't point to one single match that hooked me. However, I think the 99 French Open final, Agassi beating Medvedev, is one that I will always remember.
 
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