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Celebrities and fellow tennis players take to Twitter to congratulate Andy Murray

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By Romi Cvitkovic

Celebrities and fellow tennis players swarmed to Twitter to give their congratulations to tennis’ newest Slam winner, Andy Murray as he defeated Novak Djokovic in a nearly five hour championship match.
Congratulations, Andy! You are a true fighter and champion!
Have a look at the warm wishes below from players like Juan Monaco, Andre Agassi, Sabine Lisicki,Victoria Azarenka and Ross Hutchins and celebrities like Russell Crowe, Pau Gasol, Ewan McGregor, Rory McIlroy, Piers Morgan and Mario Andretti!
Brother of Andy Murray:


Coach of Roger Federer:


Novak Djokovic’s hitting partner:


Former ATP pro:


Former WTA player:


Former coach of Andy Murray and current ESPN commentator:


Former ATP pro and current Tennis Channel commentator:


Former ATP pro and current ESPN commentator:


Former ATP pro and current tennis commentator:


Tennis commentator:

Fellow tennis players:

Celebrities:

Last, but not least, Prince Charles. Well, the parody account anyway…

Scoping out the Practice Courts: Ivanovic, Wozniacki, Murray, Lopez

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Even before match play began on Thursday morning, spectators got their money’s worth as Caroline Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic, Andy Murray, and Feliciano Lopez were all spotted on the practice courts at the Sony Ericsson Open. Check out all the photos at the end!
Caroline Wozniacki was hitting with adidas Player Development Program’s Mats Merkel as coach Sven Groeneveld gave small tips from the sidelines. Her boyfriend and professional golfer Rory McIlroy sat side-by-side with her father Piotr. Both were relatively quiet – which is a stark change for the ever-vocal Piotr.

Caroline Wozniacki practicing as father Piotr and boyfriend Rory McIlroy look on

Wozniacki’s hitting was clean and surprisingly flat. Makes one wonder why the incessant moonballing continues to trump her game into oblivion during match play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al0UD2J2oz0
On a court across from the central Tennis Plaza, tennis’ golden girl Ana Ivanovic was seen practicing with a University of Miami athlete. There is no sweeter individual on the WTA tour willing to chat with fans, sign autographs or smile for photos, but during practice she is brutal on herself. Floppy forehand? Unacceptable. Missed volley? Disappointing. Missed serve? Pathetic. It’s no wonder she’s had her fair share of struggles coming back in the rankings over the last couple of years. She’s tough on herself but it sometimes makes you wonder if it’s too much of the wrong kind of pressure.
Ana Ivanovic practicing at the Sony Ericsson Open

Of note though is Ivanovic’s improved physical appearance. Just last year, she was looking eerily thin for a girl with a 6’1” frame. But today, she seems to have put on a few healthy pounds – thanks in part to her new coach since Wimbledon, Nigel Sears. She needs to keep this athletic and lean figure in order to have the strength and power required to hit her signature forehand well.
Ana Ivanovic with her coach Nigel Sears

On a neighboring court, fans clustered around the fence for a peek of Andy Murray practicing with Feliciano Lopez. There were plenty of laughs, intentional pegging by Murray of his coaches while he served, and great match-like points during their joint practice session.
After a 30 minute warm-up, Murray’s coach Ivan Lendl walked over to his pupil and asked “What do you want to do today?” Oh, so that’s how you coach! If this is the type of approach Murray requires of a coach, then he may have been better off with just his core team. However, Murray’s demeanor on court was lively and he seemed to be enjoying himself. So maybe having a bigger team helps his psyche in that manner. Whatever it is, I hope he gets far here because he’s a fun player to watch.
Lopez likewise was having fun in the sun and the two have a good friendship going. Perhaps Lopez can convince Murray to get back on twitter? A girl can hope!
Lopez laughing at Murray pegging serves at his team and coach (bonus video below!). Not sure, Wilson thought through the sweat situation on this latest t-shirt…

In the two photos below, I would like to think that both Lopez and Murray are looking directly at my camera for an awesome photo-op. In all seriousness, it’s probably the hot redhead next to me that made their jaws drop.

 Hey. At least I got Murray to smile. AT me. Win!

 Murray and his team mesmerized by a yellow airplane in the sky. No joke. I can’t even make this stuff up!


Feliciano Lopez laughing as Andy Murray pegs his team with serves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbR3rqgu1Ho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vObelhZUqdM
 
Clumsy Andy Murray:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H3pVZ4PalA
 
Feliciano Lopez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc2teF3akno
 
Andy Murray:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiN1vdsp0tg
 
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Tennis With a Twist

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Around 11:30 PM at Madison Square Garden a tan Rory McIlroy, the newly crowned #1 golfer in the world, stood quietly and practically unnoticed in the back of a crowded press room.  All eyes were on his girlfriend, Caroline Wozniacki, as she talked about dragging McIlroy onto the tennis court earlier that evening to play a point against Maria Sharapova. “He was not too pleased with me but at least he can say he played tennis at Madison Square Garden. Not a lot of people can say that.,” she laughed.  Later in the same press conference Roger Federer and Andy Roddick were asked what they thought of the breakout New York Knicks player Jeremy Lin.  Federer, who has been overseas the past month, was well aware of “Linsanity”, and said he hoped to watch (Lin) play at the Garden one day. Roddick had actually used Lin’s locker before the exhibition that night and said he might have to “send (Lin) a thank-you note” after his victory.
Tennis, meet pop culture. Pop culture, meet tennis.
Amidst all of the scheduling, length-of-season, and injury dramas in the WTA and ATP these days, exhibition matches are often frowned upon.  But last night’s 5th Annual BNP Paribas Showdown’s Tennis Night in America showed exactly why they’re an integral part of the game.  Andy Roddick put it best when he said, “I’m not sure how 18,000 (spectators) in the most famous venue in the world watching our sport can be a bad thing. I think it’s a great thing. There are a lot of people (in the media center) who don’t cover tennis on a regular basis and it will be out there tomorrow. I think it’s a huge positive for our sport.”
The evening started at 7:30 when world #2 Sharapova and world #4 Wozniacki stood (under spotlights) on opposing ends of the court on top of blue light-boxes as sparklers flew behind them and Katy Perry’s “Firework” blasted from the stadium speakers. This was not going to be your average night of tennis.  However, during the first set Wozniacki and Sharapova battled like the match was taking place a few miles east and a few months later at Flushing Meadows. They were laser-focused, engaging in sharp rallies, and playing very aggressive tennis (yes, even Wozniacki). There was barely even the hint of a smile.
Things changed in the second set. In the break between sets Sharapova, Wozniacki, and the chair umpire talked and giggled (yes, even Sharapova). Later, after the girls exchanged leads, Wozniacki decided to kick things up a notch.  During a changeover she took a young girl from the audience and began dancing with her. Never one to be outdone, Sharapova then took an older man from the audience and danced with him. When the music stopped and it was time for tennis again the boisterous New York crowd made it known they weren’t ready for the fun to stop. Wozniacki- an expert at milking a moment of fun-  knew exactly what to do. She went into the crowd and fetched McIlroy. At first it seemed like the couple were just going to dance, but then she put the tennis racket in his hand and created a blockbuster moment- he actually played a point against Maria Sharapova.

After losing the point to McIlroy (“He won more points (against me) than Caroline did!” Maria joked), Sharapova would go on to serve out the match and fairly easily defeat Wozniacki 6-3 6-4.
Then, around 9:00PM, it was time for the men (professional tennis players, not golfers) to take over. Andy Roddick and Roger Federer are clearly no strangers to each other, New York, or the big stage. The two have played twenty-three times- seven times in the semis or later of a Grand Slam-  with Federer holding the infamous 21-2 lead in their head-to-head.  But this time was different. It’s Roddick’s home country and Roddick was born to comically entertain a large crowd.  In the first set alone Roddick got Ben Stiller’s autograph, tossed a racket after a failed tweener, reacted mockingly to a foot-fault call from the crowd, and did a spot-on impersonation of Rafael Nadal.

Impersonations and jokes aside, Roddick played some crafty, powerful tennis, and most importantly looked healthier and moved better than he has in months.  Federer, fresh of a victory and a plane-ride from Dubai, also played some brilliant points but the American was just a tad looser and sharper than his adversary this night. With the near-capacity crowd hanging onto every point Roddick upset the Swiss Legend 7-5 7-6 (7).
After the match it was all jokes and respect between the two. Roddick quipped that he “must be in Federer’s head,” and said that the 16-time Grand Slam Champion “clearly isn’t very good under pressure”. Federer seemed pleased that Roddick is playing well again, saying “it is good to see (Roddick) play so well and hopefully he can make another run at the top-10.”
There’s no telling what the tour-level significance of these matches will be. Is Wozniacki going to actually employ the more aggressive techniques she displayed tonight at Indian Wells? Will Sharapova stay loose and serve-quip free from now on? Can Roddick build on this momentum and make another run at the Top 10? Will Federer ever survive the humiliation?  Only time will tell.  But last night 18,079 people in person and countless others on sketchy streams around the world got to say they saw Andy Roddick beat Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova laugh and dance, and the best golfer in the world play tennis.  Tennis has had many memorable Monday nights, but none quite like this one.