As if they haven’t hustled enough to get to London — aka the site of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held Nov. 21-28, 2010 — each of the eight players who qualify is being asked to create a self-portrait to celebrate their achievement.
The set-up: the guys, during the Masters Series stop in Cincinnati, hit paint-covered tennis balls against stenciled canvases showing one of the player’s signature moves. The pieces will be exhibited in Central London in early November; it’ll move to The O2 for the duration of the actual event. And after, it’ll be auctioned off for charity.
We can’t wait to see what signature moves they’ve stenciled for Muzz, Nole (tearing off his shirt?), and Andy Roddick (adjusting his crotch?). Six more spots are up for grabs.
Rafa Nadal, who owns a portrait of Marilyn Monroe, said this about creating his painting:
“Making the artwork was fun and something I’ve never done before. It’s a great way to celebrate the World Tour Finals coming back to London. It was a little bit of a challenge to put the balls on the silhouette! Of course this is the least we can do for charity and for those who need it the most. It’s very important that people in our position help those who really need help. I’d like to thank everyone for the support they give us.”
He qualified for the year-ending tournament back in May 23, 2010. Jesus.
And Roger Federer said this:
“It was great fun being invited to create my self portrait and I’m excited to see how the finished piece looks. Raising money for charity is always a great thing so already I would like to thank people who will buy these pictures and it’s going to be for a good cause. I’m happy I can help a bit.”
Federer qualified in August 7, 2010. This will be the ninth time he’s participated in the year-end event.
Flashback: Of course, this isn’t the first time the boys have been asked to help out with some year-end art. Remember those terracotta statues created by Laury Dizengremel for the Shanghai Masters? And this isn’t the first time the pros have dabbled in ball-art either. Martina Navratilova‘s churned out a few pieces herself.
More info: Check out the details (including tickets) for the Year-End finals here and specifically about the Art of Tennis here.
More pics: And more images of Nadal and Roger smackin’ the painted balls after the cut…
(images courtesy of ATP)
tennis served fresh 
September 27, 2010 at 11:37 pm |
Love these. Rafa looks quite proud of his masterpiece.
And I love the silhouette they chose for Roger — it looks like he’s hitting the sun, but — smile, Rogi! “Why so serious?”
September 28, 2010 at 7:21 am |
No, Rog put the yellow tennis ball up there. Both silhouettes are great.