American football is largely characterised by roughness, but many top NFL players such as Tom Brady love the grace and uniqueness of the sport of tennis. In fact, many of their stars can be credited to bring tennis into the limelight in the United States. This is at a time when the country needs a homegrown superstar after the likes of Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the last 30 years.
Here are some big names from the NFL who have had an interesting connect with tennis over the years.
Tom Brady
Apart from setting foot on the tennis court occasionally, the GOAT Tom Brady has often been spotted at prominent ATP tournaments and more famously, at the US Open 2023.
Being present in the stands for such events had led the seven-time Super Bowl winner to create personal relationships with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, among others.
In fact, Brady has often spoken about his admiration for Djokovic. Both the superstars are renowned for their focus on fitness and longevity in their respective sports. Interestingly, both are largely plant-based in their diets too.
Before Djokovic, Brady also showed his love for Federer by penning a heartfelt retirement post for him in 2022.
Patrick Mahomes
The star quarterback made a trip to Wimbledon this year and got a chance to interact with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe, and Nick Kyrgios, among others.
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But his trip to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center for the US Open 2024 final garnered more attention. Joining his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Travis Kelce, Mahomes was present to support compatriot Taylor Fritz against Jannik Sinner.
Mahomes’ interest in tennis can further increase drastically in the future as his 12-year-old half-sister Mia Randall is pursuing the sport professionally.
Kirk Cousins
It seems there might be a trend of quarterbacks gravitating towards tennis. Perhaps they see it as an enjoyable way to keep their arms in top form.
Cousins has often shared videos of him playing tennis on social media. He also believes that the racket sport is a great change from traditional workouts.
“I love the sport. I was looking for a way to train in the off-season and not just do boring training, but do something fun,” Cousins said.
The Minnesota Vikings star even met Andy Murray at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open 2022 in Newport.
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Alex Ward
Alex Ward hasn’t been spotted attending any high-profile matches in the stadium. However, it is worth noting that the LA Rams’ Long Snapper is in a relationship with a professional WTA player – Angela Kulikov.
They are engaged since 2020. Kulikov is an American doubles specialist, who ranked as high as #57 in the world at a point of time.
Kulikov was impressed when she played tennis for the first time with Ward, as he left her shocked with his skills.
In fact, Ward had some thought about being a professional tennis player in his teens since he had started playing the sport in fourth grade. He claimed to be amongst the top 2-3 players in his county, which is Fort Walton Beach in Florida.
However, when he competed in tournaments in Texas and Atlanta, Ward said that he ‘got his butt kicked’ and that made wake up to reality and switch to football.
