From Roger Federer coming out of retirement to Novak Djokovic evoking 'more personality’: 5 funniest gags from ATP's latest spoof sketch

The ATP recently came up with a hilarious skit featuring Novak Djokovic & Co. to hoodwink fans into believing that tennis is "scripted" in a similar fashion to the famous sitcom 'The Office' or WWE.

The spoof video began with the 24-time Major winner performing his signature shirt-ripping celebration in a washroom. Sounds bizarre? Well, what followed was even more hysterical, as a series of bits featuring greats like Roger Federer and Andy Murray played on.

Mixed with satire that makes you question reality and offensive language, the ATP's spoof delighted fans on X (formerly Twitter). On that note, let's take a look at five of the funniest gags from the sketch:

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#1 Roger Federer comes out of retirement

Roger Federer looks on at the 2018 Australian Open

While the spoof video focused on stars like Novak Djokovic, the characters at the center of the satirical world were writers 'Jenny Page' and 'Jamie Turner'. The first few scenes documented them brainstorming some intriguing storylines for the ATP Tour's "52nd season".

A few minutes in, fans got a glimpse of some of the ideas on their storyboard — one of which was using CGI to depict Roger Federer's comeback to tennis. This bit was rather funny, considering there is virtually no chance of the Swiss maestro returning to compete on the pro tour.

Having said that, the 42-year-old probably wouldn't have had to exert himself much if he did come back, as the writers intended to use computer graphics to generate his on-court body frame. All that he would have to do is bring his humorous and classy personality to the set.

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#2 Novak Djokovic wants to add 'more personality'

Novak Djokovic looks on at the 2024 Australian Open

One of the funnier bits during the ATP's spoof video was Novak Djokovic's admission about wanting to add a "bit more personality" to his 'Bert Critchley' character. The 10-time Australian Open champ has often been called robotic by fans, which probably served as motivation for him to try and make his character more "relatable" to the fans.

Here's what the Serb said during the skit:

"Something that I'm really trying to evoke with this Novak character is not just the performance and the achievements, but more of an essence, a bit more personality. You know, I try to have people relate to him. I wanna bring truth to Novak, you know. What is he thinking? What is he feeling? What would motivate him if he was a real person?"

A few seconds later, Page and Turner's storyboard was shown again, with the words "Novak Djokovic has Amnesia?" written at the bottom. Perhaps the two writers will bring this gag to life during the next installment of the 'ATP Tour' show.

One can argue that giving characters amnesia can often be seen as a low-hanging fruit for directors to make their show or movie instantly more gripping by raising the storyline's suspense and mystery. Perhaps that was a satirical reference in the skit.

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#3 Andy Murray says "people are stupid"

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were the skit's top stars

Andy Murray kicked off the parody video on a crisp note with his famous awkward persona, letting fans in on the 'scripted' nature of tennis. The Brit's deadpan face and delivery as he claimed that every narrative about the sport was 'made up' was a sight to behold.

Towards the end of his prologue, Murray's self-referential character 'Fraser McKnight' (with the surname being a reference to him receiving a knighthood in 2019) remarked that there is no difference between tennis and wrestling.

Murray then went as far as to hilariously call tennis fans "stupid", insisting they were on the short end of a scam from the ATP Tour's showrunners. He said:

"It's a bit like, you know, wrestling or the reality TV shows, like none of it is real. We usually get our storylines at the start of the year and we just try to make everything look natural. You know, let's face it, people are stupid so, you know, they'll buy anything."

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#4 Stefanos Tsitsipas takes philosophy classes

Stefanos Tsitsipas' secret is out

Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, featured in some of the most interesting cameos during the ATP's skit. Most devout fans are aware of the 25-year-old's inclination towards waxing philosophical about various topics.

Tsitsipas can come up with eloquent words about anything, whether it is an arduous match of tennis to something as mundane as a stroll in the park. Nicknamed 'the Greek God', he is notorious for putting up interesting quotes on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.

During the ATP's spoof, the 25-year-old's secret behind his esoteric disposition finally got out. He can be seen receiving classes for "philosophy, literature, history" on a blackboard in the video, hilariously gushing out the air of mystery about him.

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#5 Stan Wawrinka drops the F-word

Stan Wawrinka had the last laugh

Stan Wawrinka also entertained fans a lot despite his appearance being just a few seconds long. During the final third of the skit, writers Page and Turner insist to the viewers that the ATP Tour's efforts were much appreciated by the stars.

The camera then cut to 'Stan the Man' conversing with a team member in French as he was approached by one of the tour's personnel. The Swiss was not happy with him invading his private space though, saying: "Alright, off you f***."

Even Andy Roddick, widely considered one of the funniest tennis players ever, was admittedly in splits after hearing that line, going by his social media post. He wrote:

"This is brilliant. The @stanwawrinka part broke me..."