Welcome to the inaugural Popcorn Tennis awards. While this may be our first year, these awards are already considered to be more prestigious than the Grammys but not as well regarded as the Oscars. Not a bad effort.
The Popcorn Tennis Awards aim to recognise those who have made a valuable contribution to the Australian Open, but not necessarily on the court.
While our winners may not have won any tennis-related silverware, their efforts, in our opinion, should not be forgotten.
The first award is the “Choc Wedge Award” – Rafael Nadal (above). No explanation necessary for this one. The Spanish world No.2 has earned over $14 million dollars in prize money alone. Rafa, buy some new shorts. Please.
The “Value For Money Award” – Marcos Baghdatis. In three matches Baghdatis played two five setters and one four setter.
The “Best Impression of a Fly Award” – Yuri Sharapov. Not sure what's going on here, but I thought it deserved some kind of award. If anybody has an explanation, please let me know.
The “More Bling than Tiffany's Award” – Venus Williams. Pretty self explanatory.
The “Racquet Origami Award” – Marat Safin. Looks like Marat's made a racquet heart here – Valentine's Day is only a couple of weeks away …
The “Scouts Award for Being the Best Prepared” – Marcos Baghdatis. Somehow he knew that his match with Lleyton Hewitt was going to stretch into the wee hours – as you can see in this picture not only did he bring his racquets, but also an overnight bag. He could have let the rest of us know.
The “John McEnroe Award for the Best Dummy Spit” – Cesar Ramirez. The No.1 seed in the boys' championship lost his grip on his racquet after going down to Australia's Bernard Tomic in the quarterfinals.
The “Best One Liner Award” – Andy Roddick. “Stay in school kids, you'll end up becoming an umpire.”
