YouTuber does eerily accurate impressions of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer & others
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal and World No. 40 Nick Kyrgios recently announced their withdrawal from the upcoming US Open owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two have thus joined Roger Federer in the list of high-profile names missing the first Major since the start of the global health crisis.
The tennis world will sorely miss the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Kyrgios in New York. But if it is any consolation, they can still get to see incredibly accurate replicas of their games - thanks to a hilarious video that surfaced on Twitter yesterday.
A YouTuber by the name of Stelios Gkontsaris had impersonated several top tennis players like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem a few months ago. The video of his act has now been shared by renowned social media personality Brice Conrad, much to the amusement of Twitterati.
YouTuber does funny impressions of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer & Co
The tennis community has always had an affinity for impersonations; most would remember how the young Novak Djokovic's impressions of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova were lapped up with glee a few years ago. More recently, a video of two kids imitating the playing styles of Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgios blew up on social media as well.
Now another video has come up on social media in which Stelios Gkontsaris, known for doing uncanny tennis impersonations, is seen portraying the mannerisms and game styles of the top players.
The video starts with Andy Murray, as the YouTuber replicates the Brit's characteristic groundstrokes and even his winces after hitting them. Next up, he impersonated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic's famous return position, followed by his groundstrokes and his service.
After impersonating the two counterpunchers, Gkontsaris next took on 20-time Slam champion Roger Federer. He tried to imitate the elegance and poise with which Federer plays, albeit without the weightlessness that the Swiss displays on court.
After doing Roger Federer's counterpart Stan Wawrinka and his famous finger-to-the-head celebration, the YouTuber then role-played Rafael Nadal in what was by far the funniest part of the video.
Gkontsaris started off with the idiosyncratic return of the Spaniard, which he often hits from way back in the court. He then went on to replicate Rafael Nadal's lasso-whip forehand, accompanied by his trademark grunt.
But what was arguably the most zany part was the YouTuber imitating Nadal's infamous superstitions and rituals between points. Gkontsaris got the hair-adjusting and butt-picking spot on, and he ended the bit with the Spaniard's famous fist-pump and cry of "Vamos!".
The YouTuber then impersonated some more players, including the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Juan Martin Del Potro. The video concluded with a hilariously over-the-top impression of Dominic Thiem, where Gkontsaris completely nailed the grunts of the Austrian.