Drawing: Andy Murray

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Here’s a doozy of a dilemma for you. When the world’s top 8 men’s tennis players are walking towards you on a chilly London night on the Greenwich peninsula, dressed to the nines, heading to the O2 pier and a ferry to take them to the opening gala for the year ending ATP World Tour Finals, who do you get? Signature wise, I mean.

I had sketched them all and some of their high profile coaches – Boris Becker, Michael Chang, Amelie Mauresmo…

Security warned the small group of us waiting that they were late and in a hurry. Nothing new there. I calculated that I only had a few minutes. There was one other ‘grapher in the group, the rest were after selfies – that could slow them down a fraction…

Because Andy Murray wasn’t at last year’s event, he was my top priority. In fact, I actually had two sketches of him, but he has a quick siggy and is always obliging. Mission accomplished and both signed – one even dedicated. This is the other one.

For the record, on that cold November evening I managed to get Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Boris Becker and Andy of course. Not a bad harvest in two minutes!

Drawing: Sabine Lisicki

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Last year’s Wimbledon runner up Sabine Lisicki was among the stars taking part in the Mylan World Team Tennis Smash Hits event at London’s Royal Albert Hall earlier this month.

The annual charity extravaganza, now in its 22nd year, usually takes place in the US, but this year it was held during the Statoil Masters, to benefit Elton John’s AIDS Foundation UK. Sabine played for Team Billie Jean, joining former world number one Kim Clijsters, Tim Henman and Jamie Murray against Team Elton’s Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, Martina Hingis and Heather Watson.

The likeable German reached the 2013 Wimbledon final losing to Marion Bartoli and has a highest world ranking of 12, with four WTA titles.

Drawing: Kim Clijsters

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

One of the most popular players on the Women’s Tennis circuit was Kim Clijsters.

A former World Number one in both singles and doubles, the likeable Kim was in London this month to take part in the Mylan World Team Tennis Smash Hits Charity match at the Royal Albert Hall to raise funds for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. She signed and dedicated this sketch that shows off her trademark ‘splits’ which often had many a spectator wincing.

In June 2011 TIME Magazine named her one of the 30 legends of Women’s Tennis Past, Present and Future and she was also ranked 16 on its Top 100 list of the most influential people that year.

Kim retired in 2004 after reaching both the world number one rankings in singles and doubles simultaneously. Kim made comeback in 2009 after the birth of her daughter and became the first wildcard champion – wining the US Open for a second time. She repeated the feat the following year to retain the title and win her third Grand Slam. In 2011 she retained the world number one singles ranking, winning the Australian Open and retired the following year.

Drawing: Andy Roddick

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

For more than a decade American tennis star Andy Roddick was one of the most successful and influential players in the professional game. His flair, intelligence coupled with his charisma and engaging personality enabled him to stay in the the top ten for a consecutive season, reaching world number one in 2003 after winning the US open that year.

Andy’s tenure at number one however was a short one – 13 weeks, being replaced by the emerging Roger Federer who began his ascent to become the greatest player in the history of the sport. In fact Andy lost all his other four Grand Slams finals to the Swiss maestro – three Wimbledons in 2004, 2005 and 2009 and the US Open in 2006.

But he came mighty close in their last encounter at Wimbledon, losing a fifth set tie breaker 14-16 in the longest men’s Grand Slam final in history at 77 games and the longest fifth set. The foundations for Andy’s game lay in his devastating serve – one clocked at 155mph (248.4km/h) in a 2004 Davis Cup tie – and a fluent forehand. He retired in 2012 with 32 career tittles and is currently 11th on the all time earnings list. Since then he has established the Andy Roddick Foundation to help at risk youth.

Andy signed this sketch at the Statoil Masters’ Tennis Championships at London’s Royal Albert Hall last week.

Drawing: Billie Jean King

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

One of the greats of tennis, Billie Jean King won 39 Grand Slams, including a record twenty Wimbledon titles. She was world number one for five years and was responsible for establishing the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) forty years ago. She defeated all the greats – Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Margaret Court. However, it was the victory over a 55 year old man that she will be remembered for the most, furthering the cause of women’s struggle for equality in the 1970s.

The ‘Battle of the Sexes’ captured the imagination of the world, not just tennis enthusiasts. On 20 September 1973 in Houston, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs, the 1939 Wimbledon Champion 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

“I thought it would set women back 50 years if I didn’t win that match,” she said.

It was for Billie Jean’s crusading that LIFE Magazine in 1990 named her one of the ‘100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century’. She was the only female athlete on the list.

With her long-time friend, rock legend Elton John, her World Team Tennis Smash Hits event was staged at London’s Royal Albert Hall at the conclusion of the Statoil Masters’ Tennis Tournament last weekend. It raised $1million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. I was lucky enough to meet the very personable Billie Jean as she left the event, and she signed my sketch.

Drawing: Tomas Berdych

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

One of the nicest guys in world tennis is the 6ft 5 inch Czech Tomas Berdych. Currently ranked at number seven, Tomas is known for having one of the cleanest and hardest hitting games on the ATP Tour. He has the ability to generate great pace with his serve and groundstrokes. He reached his first and only Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2010 after beating defending champion Roger Federer in the quarters and Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. He lost to Rafael Nadal in the final. He has reached the semifinals of all the remaining slams – Australia (2014), French (2010) and US Open (2012).

On every occasion I have met Tomas, he has always been friendly and happy to sign. At the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 earlier this month was no exception and he happily signed and dedicated this sketch.

Drawing: Milos Raonic

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rising tennis star and world number eight Milos Raonic was born in Yugoslavia (now Montenegro) but grew up in Ontario, Canada.

The 23 year old has one of the strongest serves in the world. From his 6foot 5 inch height he served more aces per match and won a higher percentage of service games than any other player in 2012. His fastest serve has been clocked at 249.9 km/h (155.3mph) at the Roger’s Cup – which is the fifth fastest serve ever recorded. Novak Djokovic commented that Milos’ serve was, “very powerful, very precise”.

Unfortunately, Milos retired with a thigh injury from the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London earlier this month before his final round-robin match with Kei Nishikori. Luckily he signed my drawing before that!

Drawing: Michael Chang

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

American Michael Chang became the youngest male tennis player to win a Grand Slam Singles title when he won the French Open in 1989 at the age of 17 years and 4 months. He peaked at world number two in late 1996, the same year he reached the Australian and US Open Finals.

Michael has strong religious beliefs and commented on his famous win, “I almost kind of feel that it was almost God’s purpose for me to win The French Open”

Known for his fighting spirit and on court speed, Michael introduced the jumping two handed back hand.

He is the coach of world number five Kei Nishikori and was at London’s O2 Arena with him this year for the ATP World Tour Finals and signed my sketch there, adding his usual message, “Jesus loves you”.

Drawing: Guga (Gustavo Kuerten)

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Popular Brazilian tennis player, and former world number one Gustavo Kuerten is among clay court royalty, winning the French Open three times. His first title at Roland Garros was won in 1997 when he was ranked number 66 in the world. He won his second title in 2000, defending it the following year.

He is known as ‘Guga’ – an affectionate nickname which is a common abbreviation of the name ‘Gustavo’ in Portuguese speaking countries. Guga became a tennis icon with a blistering first serve, backed up with the ability to chase down every ball, a unique grunt when he strikes the ball and outrageously colourful clothing.

His beaming smile and engaging personality bought a lively atmosphere to tennis stadiums around the world and made him one of the most popular players with fans and his peers alike.

In 2000, for the first time, the number one year end position came down to the final match of the season. Guga defeated superstar Andre Agassi at the ATP Word Tour finals in Lisbon to win the title and take the number one position which he held for 43 weeks over his career. He was inducted into the tennis hall of fame in 2012.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet him at this year’s ATP World Tour Finals, at London’s O2 where he signed his distinctive ‘Guga’ graph.

Drawing: Boris ‘Boom Boom’ Becker

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Germany’s Boris Becker the former number one men’s tennis player is the coach of the current top ranked player Novak Djokovic. He won Wimbledon in 1985 and 1986 at the age of 17 and 18, the first non seed to do so. He again won in 1989 and finished his career with six Grand Slam titles and an Olympic Gold Medal in doubles.

His booming serves, heavy forehand, penetrating volleys and diving saves were an immediate crowd favourite. They called him “Boom Boom,” a term he disliked, saying it was too, “war like”. His highly dramatic has spawned other sayings however, such as the “Becker Faust” (the Becker fist), the “Becker Sage” (the “Becker Saw”, when he pumped his fist in a sawing motion) and the “Becker Shuffle” (the dance he often performed after winning an important point).

Boris signed the sketch for me at the O2 pier while he attended the ATP World Tour Finals in London last week.