Offseason fun: When players are verbs

It's a timeless question that has no clear-cut answer: What do fans and the tennis obsessive do during the brief offseason? With the 2012 tennis season just around the corner but no tournaments to follow, how do we keep engaged in the sport, avoid tennis fan "fatigue" and stay excited for the upcoming season? Much like the players, fans are left to be creative. You know, like turning players' names into verbs.

What does it mean "to Federer" something, or if someone says they "Ivanoviced it?" If I told you I had a job interview but "I totally Nalbandianed it," would you know what I meant?

The tennis nuts have your answers. An internet meme sparked up on Monday night when fans, bloggers and writers attempted to put together a dictionary of verbs created from player names. Whether based on player stereotypes or otherwise exaggerated, some of these were great fun.

Without further ado, here are some favorites:

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148937373948968960

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148943779733315584

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148943994146144256

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148942614413066240

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148938386353307648

http://twitter.com/jumpfroggydml/statuses/148939398191394816

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148956687552888836

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148953050504118272

http://twitter.com/newballsplease/statuses/148940449351081984

http://twitter.com/A_Gallivant/statuses/148941858771443712

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148941833286844418

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148947813974286336

http://twitter.com/krisherdown/statuses/148946884956921857

http://twitter.com/linzsports/statuses/148944110441607168

http://twitter.com/rachelwhelton/statuses/148960758527557632

It was all in good jest and served as a fun reminder of how creative (and perceptive) fans can be about their favorite tennis players.

So how about it? What are some of your favorite player names as verbs? Feel free to share them in the comments.

A hearty slap on the back to @linzsports, @A_Gallivant, @CotterNG, and @newballsplease for kicking off the conversation and opening the topic up for discussion. It was great fun.