Entertaining stuff from Tignor on tennis players having the best names:
Rafael Nadal: It's decent. Rafael sounds noble to an American ear—though is it just the Spanish equivalent of Ralph? Nadal, aside from being original in tennis, suits him. The “d” looks and sounds appropriately bold at the center.
Roger Federer: As I’ve said, Roger is comfortably old-fashioned and friendly, but Federer, while it will one day be immortal the way Laver and Tilden are, makes me feel like I’m mumbling.
Dinara Safina: Gets points for first-name originality, but Marat is a tough one to follow.
Novak Djokovic: Highly original, and the first and last names flow well. If only we could get the last one right. He told me once that it’s pronounced “Dj-yuk-ovic.” Not “joke” or “jock”—as far as I can tell, there’s a tiny “y” sound in there that doesn’t come naturally to English-only speakers, so I guess he lives with the imperfect pronunciations.
Juan Martin del Potro: Again, there’s a noble and ancient cast to this name, like a character fromDon Quixote. Apparently it doesn’t come naturally to Americans either. Standing in line for a night session at the U.S. Open last year, a buttoned-down young man looked up at the big screen to see that del Potro was still on court against Murray, and that the gates wouldn’t open until that match was over. He spun around and yelled at no one in particular, “Flub it, Du Pont!” (I’ve told this story before, but I only have so much material, so please forgive me.)
Victoria Azarenka: The first name captures her hauteur, the last name her sharp and sometimes grating edge.
Fernando Verdasco: So perfect that if it were a movie star’s name, you would know he made it up. His real name would be Fred Ventura.
Urszula Radwanska: Hard to untangle when you say it, but it's great to read—or at least look at. Like a Thelonious Monk (speaking of great names) composition, it gets points for thorniness.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: The first name is fancier than our Joe Willie, and the second syllable of the last name seems to rebound off my tongue.
Sabine Lisicki: Sabine is very nice, and I like the harsh way the second syllable of her last name sounds when it’s overemphasized.
Fabrice Santoro: What else could someone with this name have been other than a tennis player?
Aravane Rezai: Yes, there’s a French theme here; they do names well (though is Rezai Iranian by ethnicity?). Whatever the origin, Aravane is so smooth, simple, and original, it’s a shame she isn’t a better player.
Dudi Sela: Heh, Dudi
Fabio Fognini: Preposterously good, but kind of like “Mardy Fish,” it’s hard to imagine anyone with this name taking himself seriously enough to become No. 1 in the world. Parents should have thought of that.
Gael Monfils: As Michael Wilbon of ESPN’s PTI proved during the French Open, it’s fun to say “Monfeeeeeees!!!” Extra points for the feminized nickname, La Monf.
Marcos Baghdatis: Born to be a goof
Drumroll, please, as we’ve come to what I would contend is the best name in the current Top 50:
Yes, it belongs to . . . Potito Starace: The first name is comic and musical, and the second must be pronounced correctly to get the full, multi-syllabic Italian effect: It’s stah-RAH-che. Both names just better the more you exaggerate them.
