This is a list of verified common nicknames that notable professional tennis players were personally addressed by. Some are group names collectively referring to more than one player.
Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a Russian former professional tennis player and American television personality. Her appearance and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name one of the most common search strings on Google Search.
Stefanie Maria Graf is a German former professional tennis player. She won 22 major singles titles, the second-most in women's singles won since the start of the Open Era in 1968 and the third-most of all-time. In 1988, Graf became the first tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam by winning all four major singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. She is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won each major singles tournament at least four times.
Jana Novotná was a Czech professional tennis player. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1998, and was runner-up in three other majors. Novotná also won 12 major women's doubles titles, four major mixed doubles titles, and three Olympic medals. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in 1997, and held the No. 1 ranking in doubles for 67 weeks.
Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and eventually founded the brand and its logo in 1933.
Conchita Martínez Bernat is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon, doing so in 1994. Martínez also was the runner-up at the 1998 Australian Open and the 2000 French Open. She reached a career-high ranking of world No. 2 in October 1995, and was in the year-end top 10 for nine years. Martínez won 33 singles and 13 doubles titles during her 18-year career, as well as three Olympic medals. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020.
The 1999 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. It was the 87th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 18 through 31 January 1999. This was the first Grand Slam of the calendar year. Total attendance for the event reached 391,504.
The 2000 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park in Melbourne in Australia. It was the 88th edition of the Australian Open and was held from 17 through 30 January 2000.
Elizabeth Montague "Bunny" Ryan was an American tennis player who was born in Anaheim, California, but lived most of her adult life in the United Kingdom. Ryan won 26 Grand Slam titles, 19 in women's doubles and mixed doubles at Wimbledon, an all-time record for those two events. Twelve of her Wimbledon titles were in women's doubles and seven were in mixed doubles. Ryan also won four women's doubles titles at the French Championships, as well as one women's doubles title and two mixed-doubles titles at the U.S. Championships. During a 19 year run Ryan amassed a total of 659 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Cuthbert Collingwood "Ted" Tinling, sometimes known as Teddy Tinling, was an English fashion designer, spy and author. He was a firm fixture on the professional tennis tour for over 60 years and is considered the foremost designer of tennis dresses of the 20th century.
Laura Granville is a former American professional tennis player. During the two years she spent at Stanford University, she set the record for most consecutive singles victories with 58 and finished with an overall record of 93–3. Granville won the NCAA Championship in singles as well as the ITA Player of the Year in both 2000 and 2001.
Karina Habšudová is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as 10 in the world (1997). Together with Karol Kučera, she won the Hopman Cup in 1998. Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament came when she got to the quarterfinals of the 1996 French Open, defeating Kristin Godridge, Nathalie Tauziat, Martina Hingis, and Anke Huber before losing to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 8–10 in the third set.
Two-time defending champion Martina Hingis defeated Amélie Mauresmo in the final, 6–2, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1999 Australian Open. It was her third Australian Open singles title and fifth and last major singles title overall. With the win, she joined Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf, and Monica Seles as the only women to win three consecutive Australian Open titles. Hingis also became the only woman to win three consecutive Australian Open titles in singles and doubles simultaneously.
Lindsay Davenport defeated Steffi Graf in the final, 6–4, 7–5 to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. It was her second major singles title, and Davenport did not drop a set during the tournament. This was the final major in which Graf appeared; she was also attempting to complete the Channel Slam.
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario defeated Monica Seles in the final, 7–6(7–5), 0–6, 6–2, to win the women's singles tennis title at the 1998 French Open. It was Sánchez Vicario's third French Open title and fourth major singles title overall, and the last major singles final for both her and Seles. This was also the third and the last victory for Sánchez Vicario over Seles in their rivalry.
Jana Novotná defeated Nathalie Tauziat in the final, 6–4, 7–6(7–2) to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships. It was her first Wimbledon singles title and first major singles title overall, following two previous runner-up finishes at Wimbledon.
The 2000 du Maurier Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 111th edition of the event known that year as the du Maurier Open, and was part of the Tennis Masters Series of the 2000 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2000 WTA Tour. The men's event took place at the National Tennis Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from July 31 through August 6, 2000, and the women's event at the du Maurier Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from August 14 through August 20, 2000.
The 1996 Italian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 53rd edition of the Rome Masters and was part of the Mercedes Super 9 of the 1996 ATP Tour and of Tier I of the 1996 WTA Tour. Both the men's and women's events took place at the Foro Italico in Rome in Italy. The women's tournament was played from May 6 through May 12, 1996, while the men's tournament was played from May 13 through May 19, 1996.
Chan Hao-ching, also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won twenty WTA Tour, two WTA Challenger and six ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the final of the mixed-doubles competition at Wimbledon with Max Mirnyi in 2014, her first major final. She reached two more finals in 2017, the Wimbledon women's doubles with Monica Niculescu, and the US Open mixed doubles with Michael Venus.
Jana Novotná and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario were the defending champions but lost in the quarterfinals to Martina Hingis and Helena Suková.
In tennis, a bagel is when the set ends with a score of 6–0. An extremely rare type of bagel, where no point is lost, is called a golden set. Most bagel sets occur in the early rounds of tennis tournaments where the favorites play lower-ranked players, such as lucky losers or wild cards.
...it was often said Court's arms were three inches longer than the average woman of her size, which earned her the nickname The Arm
Court's tour-mate Rosie Casals nicknamed her The Arm, for the long, strong right arm that she used to deliver heavy hooking serves, reach out and intercept passing shots, and hammer home winning smashes.
Smith's only other loss was to another young American, Carole Caldwell, but "Mighty Maggie" won 13 of 15 tournaments,
They call him the "Rocket Man." Tennis pro Andy Roddick holds the world's record for fast serves: 155 mph.
Sanchez-Vicario earned the nickname, "The Barcelona Bumblebee" for her buzzing, tenacious style.
She was nicknamed the "Barcelona Bumblebee" for the way she hustled down balls and demoralised opponents with her consistency and variety.
Affectionately known as the Barcelona Bumblebee, Sánchez-Vicario lived up to her moniker, buzzing the width and breadth of the court in the dogged pursuit of tennis balls, none seeming too distant to be deemed a lost cause.
Bar are the first letters of my name, bee is like my nickname [...]
There is a bee representing you often. Is a sort of nickname? Who made it up? Yes, it's my nickname. To be honest, in the past I played many times doubles with Iveta Benesova and she made it up at that time, it was 2011 or 2012. And since then people call me 'bee' [smile].
Stove – who once flipped the man who gave her the nickname "Big Bad Betty", [...]
The late, great Bud Collins once gave the Dutch tennis legend Betty Stöve the nickname "Big Bad Betty."
Clad in his classic Reebok gear, and adorned with trademark beard, the stylish Slovak was content to exist on his wits on the baseline, breaking cover only every now and then to languidly dispatch outrageous winners from the most unlikely angles of the court. It is a style which earned him the nickname the Big Cat...
His ability to cover the court with long, even strides has earned him the nickname Big Cat.
Her waxy, bulbous forehead (which has inspired some on the tour to nickname her "Chucky").
Nicknamed 'The Crocodile' as a result of a bet with his tennis team captain, René Lacoste made this unique animal the iconic logo of his brand.
So tenacious was Lacoste's style of play on court, building his game from the baseline and keeping his opponents on the move with an array of precise groundstrokes, he earned the nickname "Le Crocodile"
He was known as "The Crocodile", a nickname he earned from the American press after he reportedly made a bet with the French Davis Cup captain.
Pick your adjective to describe the woman dubbed "La Divine", which translates into "The Goddess".
[...] wonderful characters like Mile. Lenglen and Maurice McLoughlin remain only clichés, the Maid Marvel and the Flame-Thatched California Comet.
Known as "Emmo" to his wide circle of friends on the circuit, he was gregarious and could lead the partying without jeopardising his high standards of play.
He was once so popular in his native Australia – and the world, beloved by all of his peers and millions of fans -- that a letter simply marked "Emmo" arrived on his doorstep.
Nicknamed the 'Sunshine super girl' early in her career, Goolagong Cawley achieved exactly that feat in 1971, winning the first of Grand Slam titles.
Her play Sunshine Super Girl (named after a nickname given by fans) will chart the life of Australia's first Aboriginal woman world champion...
After a previously disappointing claycourt season, Fed-ex won his first clay title of the spring in Hamburg.
Fred Stolle had his Wimbledon singles frustrations, but overflowed with success everywhere else as one of the overpowering Australian group in the 1960s and 1970s. He was known as "Fiery Fred" or "Fiery" to his teammates for his outspoken competitiveness.
The Flying Dutchman, as he became known, reached the Wimbledon semi-finals 10 years later before retiring in 1981...
"The Flying Dutchman" was his nick-name and he and Ashe played a thrilling five-set final in 1968...
Known as 'Fraulein Forehand', Graf could hit that shot like a hammer.
While the titles piled up the next few year for the "Ice Maiden", the public that had adored her started to lose interest.
"The English press thought a schoolgirl should be giggly, so they dubbed me the ice maiden", Evert recalls.
[...] the 6‐foot‐4‐inch Smith has all the credentials. Finalist to Newcombe a year ago, winner at Forest Hills, the "Leaning Tower of' Pasadena" has the big serve‐and‐follow game that is the absolute requisite to win on fast Wimbledon grass.
[...], Helen Wills (called Little Miss Poker Face because of her lack of expression on court)
She earned her nickname "Little Mo" from the sportswriters who likened her explosiveness on court to the battleship USS Missouri, known as "Big Mo"
After winning the Grand Slam, Connolly was dubbed "Little Mo," referring to the firepower of "Big Mo," the USS Missouri.
Pete Sampras famously labelled him "The Magician", a tribute to his unpredictable use of spins, lobs and drop shots.
Fabrice Santoro, who's nicknamed "The Magician" by his fellow pros for his ability to conjure a bewildering array of angles, spins, and changes of pace with his two-handed ground strokes,...
Two Norwegian Women, Molla Bjurstedt Mallory—the girl from Norway—and Sonja Henie, have been preeminent in American sports. "Marvelous Molla" was born in Oslo and was trained as a teacher of gymnastics and as a masseuse.
Rosewall still answers to the nickname Muscles, which was given to him many decades ago. "It's a nickname that was started by my twin compatriot who is unfortunately no longer here — Lew Hoad", he said. "He had all the muscles and I didn't have any so the name stuck."
When the Open era commenced in 1968, bringing together the two streams of tennis, Rosewall was 33. Crucially, the lightly framed champion nicknamed Muscles was far from done.
[...] a group of Murray fans wearing white shirts with blue letters spelling his nickname "Muzza"...
Known locally as the Paignton Peach, Sue Barker was one of the world's top tennis players during the 1970s.
They called her the 'Paignton Peach' because she had it all going for her – youth, a brilliant tennis talent and eyecatching good looks – and she was from Devon.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)She was quick, combative, distinctive with a home-crafted game that set her apart as the psychedelic strokeswoman.
Nicknamed Rabbit for her quickness afoot [...]
Nicknamed "The São Paulo Swallow" because she appeared out of thin air to swoop in and dominate the net,...
She was labelled the "São Paulo Swallow" for her ability to dominate the net by former BBC Sport commentator John Barrett.
Nicknamed "The Tennis Ballerina" because of her graceful style,...
The 37-year-old "Swiss Miss" has retired twice before...
All the way back at the 1997 Australian Open, when she was 16 and nicknamed "Swiss Miss", Hingis became the youngest major champion of the 20th century,...
Larsen was known as Tappy because he had a fixation for tapping stairs, nets, net posts, benches, anything and everything — a nervous habit from surviving the Normandy invasion in 1944.
Del Potro is nicknamed the Tower of Tandil...
His peers may be creaking and groaning after a dozen seasons on the road and hundreds of matches contested, but the gentle giant from Argentina (they call him the Tower of Tandil) is still a spring chicken by comparison.
Known as 'The Wizard', Brookes was a master strategist and a shrewd tactician.
Sir Norman Brookes, or 'The Wizard' as he was known...