Fandom Overview - Men's Professional Tennis RPS

[magic-beans.livejournal.com]

To make a list of all the players we slash would be quite difficult, it's probably easiest for me to say that if they're in the Top 100, they're fair game (though even that's not absolute). There are so many at-the-net ass pats (Roger Federer, I'm looking at you), and cheek caresses (and you Marat Safin) that really there's 'evidence' for pretty much any couple you could ever want to see.


THE MAIN SUSPECTS:

ROGER FEDERER, World #1, SWITZERLAND	ANDY RODDICK, World #6, USA
The Mr Perfect of tennis. Has a long term girlfriend called Mirka (who is generally well liked and sometimes makes an appearance in fic) and a cow called Juliette (given to him by the Swiss the first time he won Wimbledon). Apparently likes heavy metal but you couldn't tell that from his exterior. Very polite and is generally portrayed as a Nice Guy. Mainly paired with Andy Roddick, but also with Marat Safin and others.	24 years of age, previous world number one. Fastest serve in the game. Very charismatic and funny. Really wants to win Wimbledon, but everytime he gets close Roger gets in the way. Was childhood (and still perhaps) best friend of Mardy Fish. Mainly paired with Roger or Mardy, but also plenty of others.

MARDY FISH, World #55, USA	TOMMY HAAS, World #14, GERMANY
One of the quieter americans. Lived for a year with Andy and his family when they were younger, and often paired up with him. Generally portrayed as: quite sensible and nice, but can be trouble if teamed up with Andy. Also often paired with Tommy Haas.	Sometimes called Hasi. Used to have longer hair, but chopped it all off to produce this look earlier this year. Can be prone to outbursts, probably one of the tougher guys on tour but still quite generally NICE. Paired with Mardy and also Marat Safin.

MARAT SAFIN, World #72, RUSSIA	RAFAEL NADAL, World #2, SPAIN
One of the more unstable components of our fandom. Smashes a lot of racquets, and is generally quite volatile, but no-one can (quite understandably really) keep their eyes off him. Paired with pretty much anyone. Generally portrayed as: a sex loving fiend?	20. Commonly known as Rafa and loved by all. Has giant arms and sometimes chokes on bananas. Very determined and incredibly powerful. Portrayals vary from innocent to decidedly not. Mostly paired with his mentor/friend Carlos Moya, but also commonly with any of the other spaniards.

CARLOS MOYA, World #43, SPAIN	MARIO ANCIC, World #11, CROATIA
One of the older guys on tour. Rafa's sugar daddy (not really), but sometimes seen with Marat, or one of the other spaniards. Often has angsty ISSUES because of the age difference between himself and Rafa.	22. Sometimes jokingly called "Baby Goran" (in reference to Goran Ivanisevic, who is also Croatian). Despite being one of the younger players he is generally portrayed as one of the naughtiest. Often paired with Goran, or Marat Safin (seemingly only they can handle him).

THE OTHERS:

SPAIN	SPAIN	FRANCE	FRANCE	AUSTRALIA
Juan Carlos Ferrero. JC/Juanqui/Juanca. Sometimes over-looked spaniard. Often paired with Marat due to Marat living and training in Valencia, Spain when he was a teenager.	Feliciano Lopez (Feli). Looks like a girl. Very often doubles partner of Rafael Nadal (they wear matching outfits and closely discuss 'tactics'). Often paired with any of the other Spaniards.	Richard Gasquet. 19. Often paired with fellow Frenchie, Sebastien, but also with Marat (he has a crush, yo) or Rafa (they trained together).	Sebastien Grosjean. 28. Married with kids. Mainly paired with Richard or other fellow Frenchie Arnaud Clement.	Lleyton Hewitt. Mouthy, very competitive. Former #1. Married with kid. Sometimes the neccessary bad guy. Seen sometimes with Andy.

GBR	GBR	CROATIA	SWEDEN	USA
Tim Henman. 32, married with kids. Often paired with Andy Murray. For the most part sensible, though occasionally rather amusing.	Andy Murray. 19, Scottish, mainly seen with Tim, but also sometimes with Federer. Very straight-forward, no time wasting guy, can be quite pissy.	Goran Ivanisevic. Croatian, another volatile racquet thrower, though older and somewhat more sensible now. Often seen with Marat or Mario.	Joachim Johansson. 'Pim-Pim'. Quietish (giant) Swede. Played doubles with Marat, so most often paired with him. Done some really jawdroppingly gorgeous modeling for swedish sports label Bjorn Borg.	Bob & Mike Bryan. American twins, double partners. Double trouble. Paired mainly with each other, though occasionally the other americans get a look in too.

SOME OF THE PAIRINGS

Andy/Roger

There are huge amounts of pics for these two because of all their face-offs in finals, and from press stuff. This pairing plays very much on the fact that they're rivals (less so now than a year or so ago when Andy was #2 to Roger's #1) and the way they were always meeting on court - especially at Wimbledon finals. They say a lot of complimentary things about each other, and genuinely seem to get on well. Andy in particular is always joking about Roger's ability to beat him.

From an article about the result of the Wimbledon 05 final: [...] looking to future matches against the champion, Roddick joked: "Maybe I'll just punch him or something." .

And after Wimbly 2004: Roddick, gracious as ever, said: 'I threw the kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub.'

Andy/Mardy

Because what else are friends for, if not pouring champagne on you whilst you're talking to the press? These two lived in each other's pockets growing up, played the same tournaments later, both represented their country at the 2004 Olympics, played on the same Davis Cup team etc. The pairing plays mostly on their closeness and there's some really lovely fic with them as youngsters.


Rafa/Carlos

This two have so many moments it's ridiculous. They whisper in each other's ears and sit very close. Sometimes Rafa jumps Carlos and clings to him like a limpet. The play playstation and then end up just lying about on the same bed, if they're not hugging they're staring at each other. Sometimes we wonder how often the rest of the spaniards tell them to 'get a godamn room'. The pairing tends to have Carlos in charge because he's that much older, but Rafa has his ways of getting exactly what he wants.


Andy Murrary/Tim Henman

Before Murray came on the scene there was a distinct lack of all Brit slash. It was a very sad period in my life. Thankfully that is no longer the case and though this isn't an epic pairing, it's fairly popular. The two couldn't really be anymore different, Tim is sensible and mature and Andy can be a bit of a tornado. Tim is also married. Of course we allow none of this to get in the way and write away. Andy tends to be the instigator and though they have their marital issues angst they compliment each other well.


Marat Safin. Here with Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Mario Ancic, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Richard Gasquet. He gets around.

(image thanks to kindoftrouble)

Marat is something near undefinable, and this (and his good looks) are part of what make him so popular and also so flexible when it comes to pairings. He and Roger are an interesting put together with one another as it becomes a rather clash of the titans type affair, with all the hot sparks. Marat is one of the few people that can take a match from Roger and due to their muutual respect one would imagine they woul get on rather well. Marat and Andy Roddick are sometimes paired up for their similarities, and after the pair had a bust-up last year (Marat said Andy had changed 'and not for the better') they became a more interesting duo. Recently they appear to have made up as they were getting on well at the Davis Cup USA vs. Russia fixture. Marat and Carlos is another fairly common pairing, mainly due to Marat's friendliness with the spaniards (or 'The Armada' as they are sometimes collectively known) and because they used to play together when they were both younger. Marat can also be seen corrupting Richard Gasquet, or involved with Joachim Johansson, his past doubles partner.

RESOURCES

tennisslash (the more active of the two LJ comms)
gamesetmatch
ATP Site
Men's Tennis Forums (MTF) - warning, heavily populated with 12yo girls

(Rankings as of: 25th Sept 06)

Comments

[elsmoka.livejournal.com]

YAY!!!!

[melandraanne.livejournal.com]

I used to write Borg/Vilas and Lloyd/Gerulaitis back before I knew that slash existed ... Thanks for the rundown ... I'll look forward to the recs !

[deltachild.livejournal.com]

Oh the glee! I've never been brave enough to dive into the fandom so yay for incoming recs :D

[geneli4.livejournal.com]

oh, fun! until just now i was unaware there was such a thing as tennis slash - i'm looking forward to your recs!

[legxleg.livejournal.com]

you are *awesome* for doing this. I'm another one that can't wait for the recs. And to channel my inner 12-year-old... Andy/Roger, squee!

[missiedith.livejournal.com]

1. They gave him a cow.

2. He choked on a banana.

...wtf?

[magic-beans.livejournal.com]

"Two days after winning his first Wimbledon, he was presented with a 1,760 lb. milking cow he named "Juliette" as a gift from tournament organizers in Gstaad, Switzerland."

and Nadal Chokes on Banana (http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=825252006)

:D

[missiedith.livejournal.com]

I just had to ask, didn't I? *facepalm* Looking forward to the recs.

[krisherdown.livejournal.com]

The extent of my knowledge on sports slash was the team stuff, so I will be interested in what type of stuff you recommend. The only ones of that list that I can even imagine are Marat and the Croats.

[athousandwinds.livejournal.com]

There's Tim Henman/Andy Murray slash out there? I might have to get into RPS fandom...

[magic-beans.livejournal.com]

Yes! After Wimbledon last year I got very frustrated that was none at all and wrote some, and other people actually started writing it too. It's great :D

[athousandwinds.livejournal.com]

I'm so very tempted to shout "Come on, Tim!" at the monitor. He might win Wimbledon get more fic this year!

[twigged.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the overview!

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

BTW, for some reason this isn't listed under RPS in the community's Memories. I had to search it via calendar.

[magic-beans.livejournal.com]

Hmm. After a bit of poking I found it in the fandom bibliography memory category. I think you're right and that it should go in the RPF one instead. I can't change it though, it would need to be done by the mods. You could whip them off an email?

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

I could but I think the e-mail would have more weight coming from you as you wrote this overview^_^