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.
^Steve Tignor (27 February 2018).
"The 50 greatest players of the Open Era (W): No. 4, Margaret Court".
Tennis.com. 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.
^"Moon Tennis". www.nasa.gov.
NASA. 30 August 2005. They call him the "Rocket Man." Tennis pro Andy Roddick holds the world's record for fast serves: 155 mph.
^"CNN Open Court: Barcelona Bumblebee". Women's Tennis Association. 2016. 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.
^Michele Galoppini (13 October 2017).
"WTA Linz: Buzarnescu "I hope I can be an example", Strycova "Give me Roger for mixed doubles"". Spazio Tennis. 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].
^Stewart Fisher (10 February 2012).
"Miloslav Mečíř, the Big Cat with the cream of Slovakian tennis at his disposal". The Herald. 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...
^Jaime Diaz (20 April 1987).
"Big Cat on the prowl". Sports Illustrated. His ability to cover the court with long, even strides has earned him the nickname Big Cat.
^"The story of the crocodile". Lacoste. 17 August 2015. 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.
^Tom Sweetman (11 September 2014).
"Rene Lacoste: The lasting legacy of 'Le Crocodile'". CNN. 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"
^"René Lacoste". International Tennis Hall of Fame. 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.
^Joel Drucker (18 October 2017).
"Joel Drucker: In the Orbit of Emmo". The Tennis Channel. 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.
^Jeremy Stahl (2007-05-22).
"French Open – Roland Garros – Men to watch". Eurosport. Archived from
the original on 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2008-05-13. After a previously disappointing claycourt season, Fed-ex won his first clay title of the spring in Hamburg.
^"Fred Stolle AO – Tennis". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. 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.
^Larry Schwartz.
"Evert: grit, grace and glamour".
ESPN. Retrieved 2008-05-13. While the titles piled up the next few year for the "Ice Maiden", the public that had adored her started to lose interest.
^"Chris Evert: "Anyone can be a champion."". Vanity Fair. 31 May 2019. "The English press thought a schoolgirl should be giggly, so they dubbed me the ice maiden", Evert recalls.
^Fred Tupper (26 June 1972).
"U.S. tennis sweep forecast". The New York Times. [...] 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.
^Collins, Bud (2016). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (3rd ed.). New York: New Chapter Press. p. 36.
ISBN978-1-937559-38-0. [...], Helen Wills (called Little Miss Poker Face because of her lack of expression on court)
^"1955: American tennis star 'Little Mo' to quit".
BBC News. 1955-02-22. Retrieved 2010-05-20. She earned her nickname "Little Mo" from the sportswriters who likened her explosiveness on court to the battleship USS Missouri, known as "Big Mo"
^Ed McGrogan (15 July 2009).
"The forehad of Fabrice Santoro". Tennis.com. 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,...
^A.N. Rygg (1941).
Norwegians in New York, 1825–1925. Brooklyn: Brooklyn, N.Y., The Norwegian News Company. p. 209. 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.
^Jessica Hinchliffe; Loretta Ryan (6 January 2016).
"Ken Rosewall: Tennis legend Muscles reflects on career, looks forward to sport's strong future". ABC News. 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."
^"Famous Devonians". BBC. Known locally as the Paignton Peach, Sue Barker was one of the world's top tennis players during the 1970s.
^"Still a Devon girl at heart..."DevonLife. June 2020. 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.
^Bud Collins (13 July 2003). "Becker's route to Hall a grass-roots success". Boston Globe. p. E2 – via Newspapers.com. She was quick, combative, distinctive with a home-crafted game that set her apart as the psychedelic strokeswoman.
^"Del Potro stands tall". Australian Open. 18 January 2018. 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.