Photo gallery special: Getting pumped!
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How a big moment in a game, a set, a match or even a career is celebrated can say a lot about a player.
Take Rafael Nadal for instance. His tennis is a joy to watch, full of power, intensity and passion – just like his on-court celebrations.
Others are, quite frankly, an embarrassment to their trade. Tim Henman’s apologetic fist pump became the topic of national debate while Richard Gasquet’s excuse for an aggressive fist clench needs some serious work in the technical department – his heart just isn’t in it.
We reckon Nadal has the largest variety of celebrations in the game today – which is only right for the world’s best player. It’s probably because he gets so much practice.
It would be so wrong if Rafa celebrated some of the defining moments of his career – his Olympic gold, his fourth French Open title, his first Wimbledon crown – with a wet fist pump and a shy smile.
A big achievement deserves a big celebration and Rafa has an arsenal of victory salutes to choose from depending on the size of task completed.
There’s the understated clenched left fist (a break point maybe), the rising left arm with fist (perhaps after winning a set) and sometimes he even brings his left leg into play, raising his knee to his chest in sequence with his left arm (probably keeps that for match points).
Occasionally, he’ll perform a left-arm throwing motion (with clenched fist), sometimes even both fists at the same time and every now and then he’ll go into the ‘victory crunch’ (with bowed head).
His pièce de résistance, which is used only for grand slam and Olympic titles, is the high-speed collapse onto his back with arms and legs outstretched - see Wimbledon, July 2008.
It hasn’t always been this way though. Like other sports, the level of celebration in tennis seems to have grown hand-in-hand with the financial rewards on offer. The likes of Fred Perry and co probably shook hands while offering a curt ‘well played old chap’.
The great Bjorn Borg brought a bit of glamour to proceedings with his sink-to-the-knees Centre Court routine before Boris Becker added an element of modern dance with his ‘Becker boogie’.
Pat Cash ramped things up by inventing the climb into the VIP box, while another Aussie, Lleyton Hewitt, took celebratory volume to another level with his triumphant yells of ‘Cmooonnnnnnnnn’.
Today’s superstars have introduced some of their own original moves – Jonas Bjorkman’s ‘self hug’, Gael Monfils and his weird dance, Mikhail Youzhny and his racket-on-head salute, tears of joy (see Tamira Paszek) and the Bryan brothers’ glorious chest bump.
We look forward to some new additions in 2009.
