{"id":416051,"date":"2026-01-16T03:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T03:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/416051\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T03:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T03:54:11","slug":"the-origin-of-the-most-iconic-and-boring-celebration-in-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/416051\/","title":{"rendered":"The origin of the most iconic and boring celebration in tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether it\u2019s Jannik Sinner\u2019s quiet and composed clenching of the fist, or Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s roaring celebration when she hits a winner, the fist pump is everywhere.<\/p>\n

The fist pump certainly isn\u2019t the most exciting celebration in tennis, but it\u2019s definitely the most common.<\/p>\n

When it comes to iconic, Lleyton Hewitt\u2019s \u201cC\u2019mon\u201d is one of the all-time greats.<\/p>\n

The gesture, known as the vicht, is a Swedish celebration where the hand is pointed back towards the player\u2019s own face like an arrow.<\/p>\n

\"Lleyton<\/p>\n

Lleyton Hewitt celebrating a point in a 2005 match at the Sydney International.Credit: 2005<\/p>\n

Although Hewitt popularised it, the gesture itself was inspired by celebrations by Swedish players Mats Wilander and Niclas Kroon.<\/p>\n

It became a subject of contention between Wilander and Hewitt back in the day, when Hewitt snatched up the rights to the gesture after Wilander and Kroon didn\u2019t renew the trademark.<\/p>\n

Kroon has claimed to have invented the gesture while playing Yahtzee with his brother as a kid, and Hewitt\u2019s team were said to have been aware of the trademark lapse when it happened in 2007.<\/p>\n

Often these quirky, and at times controversial, celebrations can be how players are remembered, and they\u2019re also often borrowed from champions before them.<\/p>\n

\"Thanasi<\/p>\n

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios celebrate.Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

Take the chest bump celebration between Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis when they play doubles. That celebration has become synonymous with the \u201cSpecial Ks\u201d, but it is most associated with twins Mike and Bob Bryan who deployed it during their illustrious careers, which included 16 grand slam titles, 39 Masters 1000 titles and 10 seasons where they finished as doubles world No.1.<\/p>\n

Serbia\u2019s Novak Djokovic will have no issue being remembered after winning 24 grand slam singles titles, but it will also be difficult to forget his heart gesture to all four sides of the stadium after victory. And even though that\u2019s uniquely Djokovic, it\u2019s reminiscent of when Andre Agassi would blow kisses to all four corners of the court after a win.<\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic rips his shirt open after defeating Carlos Alcaraz at the 2023 Cincinnati Open.Credit: Reuters<\/p>\n

And then, there are the one (or two) off celebrations that stick in the minds of fans because of how whacky and wonderful they are.<\/p>\n

Such as when Djokovic ripped his shirt off after defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the 2023 Cincinnati Open, or when Jim Courier went for a dip in Melbourne\u2019s Yarra River after his coach flagged the potential celebration before the 1992 Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Courier won the title in 1992 and 1993, and, staying true to his word, went head first into the river.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, tennis is a little more reserved compared to the wild celebrations of the 1980s and \u201990s, but there\u2019s always room for some innovative celebrations and, of course, a fist pump or two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether it\u2019s Jannik Sinner\u2019s quiet and composed clenching of the fist, or Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s roaring celebration when she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-416051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}