During the US Open 2019, one of the most unique collaborations was seen between the worlds of tennis and entertainment. The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon devised an idea to make tennis interviews fun. The USTA and the ATP and WTA Tours agreed to allow players to abide by this fun-filled activity, which was intended as a prank to be played on the media. Players like Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka were the most natural in their acting.
One of Fallon’s notoriously fun-filled segments was called ‘Drop It In’. In it, players were asked to add a line randomly in their interviews with the media. The lines had no relation to the context of their speech. Some of them did not have any relevance in the English language for that matter.
On the surface, the idea sounded bizarre but the way the players pulled it off, it was comedy of the highest class. For example, Andy Murray used the phrase ‘I used to take cat naps, but now I take kitten naps. Half as long, twice as cute’ within his answer. When the interviewer asked him about his preparation, the 3-time Grand Slam champion gave the following answer –
“I usually get into New York pretty early. And you know, I spend probably 5 or 6 days training over at Flushing Meadows. I used to take cat naps. Now I’m taking kitten naps, which are half as long but twice as cute.”
Similarly, Maria Sharapova included the phrase ‘Let me tell you something, you’re never gonna find three tennis balls in a Pringles can’ in her otherwise very serious, monotonous interview.
“Patience is not one of my best qualities. Let me tell you something, yoo’re never gonna find three tennis balls in a Pringles can.”
Many other players like Karolina Piliskova, Madison Keys, Ashleigh Barty, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, etc also participated in this amusing task. However, Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka, both of whom had to repeat the same phrase, stole the show with their flawless execution.
The phrase they were told to use by Jimmy Fallon was the following – ‘When the score is deuce, the juice gets loose’. This is how it went for both of them.
Novak Djokovic said, “In the final against Roger, I managed to play the best tennis of the week. And obviously, when the score was deuce, the juice got loose.”
Naomi Osaka said, “It’s basically instinct. When the score is deuce, the juice gets loose.”
This whole initiative was a nice way to market the US Open to a broader audience. And Jimmy Fallon, a huge fan of tennis, was more than happy to partner in this initiative.
Fallon is one big name in the world of entertainment who is a huge tennis fan and is often seen at the US Open too, with one of his appearances being memorable till date.
How Jimmy Fallon Always Makes Tennis Fun and Frolicking For the Audience
During the 2015 US Open, as Roger Federer was playing his quarter-final match against Richard Gasquet, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake were present at Flushing Meadows. During a break, as Federer was wiping his sweat, he saw Fallon and Timberlake dance in the stands. They were dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ track (as per Sportsmole).
The New York City crowd took note of it too, and a distinct sound of laughter reverberated across the stadium for a while.
Timberlake and Fallon were just being silly to entertain the audience and make them more lively before the match resumed. On other occasions, the latter has interviewed the likes of Serena Williams, Bianca Andreescu, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and so on.
While the US Open or any tennis event for that matter has seen nothing like what happened between Fallon and the 2019 edition of the Flushing Meadows tournament, another similar collaboration this year would go a long way in reigniting the passion for tennis in the United States.
