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By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, December 10, 2014

 
Rafael Nadal, French Open 2014

The 2014 tennis season pulled at the heartstrings of fans and players alike. Here we pay tribute to the year's top tearjerkers.

Photo Source/Reuters

What moved the tennis world to tears in 2014? We could think of a lot of times that we were temporarily derailed from our typically compulsive tennis watching just to shake, shiver and cry.

2014 in Review: Offbeat Moments | Hot Shots | Under-20 Moments | Top Selfies | Comebacks

A lot of times—actually most—it was pure ecstasy. The beauty of the emotions that inevitably surface when a champion’s dream is realized. Milestones achieved. But sometimes there is an ineffable tinge of melancholy. Goodbyes that floored us—even heartbreak. But always there is the underlying theme of love for the game and gratitude for its personalities.

Without any further ado, we bring you the top 10 tennis tearjerkers of 2014.


1.The Passing of Elena Baltacha: The loss of the fiery and passionate Baltacha drove a wedge straight into the heart of the tennis community. Those who knew her and even those who had observed her from a distance came together to mourn in her memory, promising to never forget so that her spirit may endure and be passed on to those seeking inspiration in the years to come.





2.Swiss Davis Cup Triumph: For the first time in history, the Swiss took the Davis Cup title, and the emotions were overwhelming, not only for Swiss fans and Federer fans, but also for Stan the Stanimal Wawrinka, who had painstakingly gone out in pursuit of the coveted cup year after year and finally saw his hard work rewarded as he and his teammates put forth a near-perfect effort in the final in Lille.





3. Nick Bollettieri Inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame: Mary Carillo said it perfectly: “It’s time, Nick, and it’s about time.”





4. Li Na’s Farewell Ceremony: None of us expected Li to retire in the same year that she picked up her second major title. But she did, forcing us all to prematurely take stock of her brilliant, trailblazing career and—most of all—reminisce about her candor, her humor and the many ways in which we all admired her personality and achievements.

 






5. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s return to relevance and heartfelt press conference: It would have been a tearjerker even if she hadn’t gripped us all with her moving remarks after making it to the second week of a major for the first time in 15 years. See it below, and cry again!

Lucic-Baroni Shocks Halep



6. Michaella Krajicek Gets Engaged to Martin Emmrich on court at ‘S-Hertogenbosch: Grab your kleenex box, and watch.





7. Djokovic, Federer Have Children: More baby Feds and Baby Noles! Tears of Joy! Let’s not forget that Djokovic’s marriage to longtime fiancĂ© Jelena Ristic also made us a bit sniffly, too. They’re such a cute couple.
 



8. Nadal wins French Open #9: It was a tough clay-court season, and a pretty difficult season overall for the king of clay, oh but the way he got on the terre battue and unfurled his formidable, fiery game in dominant fashion once again made up for all the hardships and then some.





9. The 2014 Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final: Sad for Roger, Happy for Novak, Beautiful emotions—and tennis—from both.
 





10. The Courage of Vicky Duval: The American was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during Wimbledon, and she elected to play through qualifying (successfully) and ended up winning her first career main draw match there before heading home to seek treatment. She was pronounced cancer-free in September and is already back on the court, training hard for 2015.

Duval Diagnosed With Hodgkin's Lymphoma

 

 

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