2014's viral sensations
From marquee matches to feisty feuds, to major meltdowns and the tennis Twitter, and all of fashion faux-pas and sexy, skillful shots in between, SI Tennis' Year-End Awards have the entire span of the 2014 tennis season covered. Check back throughout the month of December to see the best and worst of the season.
Li Na's Australian Open victory speech
Li retired eight months after giving this memorable speech, so if this is our last memory of her, we could do worse. From thanking her agent -- "Max. Agent. Make me rich. Thanks a lot." -- to her husband -- "You're a nice guy. Also, you're so lucky to find me." -- Li absolutely slayed in her victory speech. It had everyone rolling with laughter and left more than a few people wondering if it was the best victory speech ever.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-uVsj2pJDo]
"Son of a biscuit!"
Tennis has tried hard to shed its posh, country club image. But when Donald Young was issued a obscenity warning for yelling "son of a biscuit" during an ATP Challenger match, the sport made itself an easy target once again, as the video quickly made the rounds.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbarCmH5fR8]
Caroline Wozniacki's bad hair day
I'm still unsure how exactly her ponytail got stuck in her racket, but credit to Wozniacki for trying to play through it. This was pure physical comedy.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/KQMTBDiH8Y4]
Maria Sharapova towers over Floyd Mayweather at the ESPYs
Surely ESPN knew what it was doing when it paired Sharapova's 6-foot-2 frame (and add four inches to that with her heels) with Mayweather's 5-foot-8 frame to present at the ESPYs, right?
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
The challenge took over all forms of social media this summer and tennis players were more than happy to get in on the fun.
[tweet=https://twitter.com/DjokerNole/status/501762037459218432]
Canadian doubles
No, we're not referring to Eugenie Bouchard's stint on the doubles court. "Canadian doubles" refers to a match of doubles played with three players in a two-on-one fashion. Taylor Townsend was forced to play solo after hitting her doubles partner, Liezel Huber, in the head during a World Team Tennis match, and Andy Murray did the same (minus the head-hunting) in an exhibition at the ATP Finals against Tim Henman and Pat Cash. Both instances got a surprising amount of attention. People like abnormal.
The phantom default
It's fair to say few people knew who Darian King was before he was defaulted from a tennis match for throwing his tennis racket and -- somehow -- injuring a linesjudge. While the headlines were sensational, there were more questions than answers once people actually took the time to review the incident. How exactly did this linesjudge get hurt? The racket never touched her.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/jt06x3Wq454]
Serena Williams shows off her pipes
Serena talks about karaoke a lot. No really. A lot. But she showed off her stage presence at a Delta Airlines event before the U.S. Open with a rousing rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."
Post by Serena Williams.
The Proposal
Win a match, get a proposal. That's what happened to Michaella Krajicek at the Topshelf Open in s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands this summer. After winning her first round match, which was also her only tour-level win of the year, Krajicek got a surprise when her boyfriend and German ATP player, Martin Emmrich, came out on court and dropped to one knee. She said yes!
[youtube=http://youtu.be/3OyEcXCXGus]
