Thanksgiving in the Tennis World: What Players Are "Really" Thankful for

Thanksgiving is just around the corner again, and those of us who don’t believe that it is only about eating turkey and watching football think of things that we are thankful for in our lives.

No matter what we do or how accomplished we think we are, there are always reasons to be grateful and somehow appreciate our existence in the planet.

If we think of professional tennis players—especially the top ones—it seems pretty obvious what they would the thankful for: having a successful career, achieving fame and international recognition, traveling the world doing what they love and being financially independent at an early age.

Surely the ones with a true sense of perspective are indeed grateful for all these things and know how to appreciate their lives.

In order to break the ice, however, and add some humor to the serious and "politically correct" statements in the tennis world, it would be fun to imagine what a few top players would be “secretly” thankful for on Thanksgiving.

There might be things that they know are true but would admit only to themselves and no one else in the world.

The following slideshow is an attempt to imagine what would be in some players’ minds as they reflect on the their careers in 2011.

The quotes shown are obviously not real and were made up for the sake of guessing what players would have to say on Thanksgiving day if they were to play Jim Carrey's character in the movie Liar Liar.

Janko Tipsarevic

"Thank you, Lord, for helping me break into the Top 10 for the first time in my life at 27 years of age, and making it to the World Tour Finals as the alternate player.

"It means that, unless someone gets hurt and pulls out, which I sincerely hope it doesn't happen, I get to party in London with all expenses paid.

"And double thanks for the first year of my marriage. Being ugly as I am and with all those tattoos, I would never have scored a hot wife like that without your help, even now that I am rich and famous."

Andy Roddick

"How can I not be thankful to you, my Lord? I had a lousy year, dropped out of the Top 10, lost a Davis Cup tie custom-designed for me and you still helped me to reach the mark of $20 million in career prize money.

"All this money, a supermodel wife and your goodness should give me strength to go through the tough times that might be ahead of me.

"I might even stop complaining about our schedule, as you showed me that there just might be people in the world who face more difficulties in life than us megastar tennis players do. I mean, there are people like that, right?"

David Ferrer

"Thank you, Lord, for making me reach as far as I could possibly go as a professional tennis player.

"Knowing my limitations, I doubt I can break into the Top Four, but the strength of character and willpower you gave me at birth made me the best I can be. And this is all one can ask for in life.

"Also, thanks for helping me to ruin the party for the American Davis Cup team in Andy Roddick’s own backyard.

"The tailor-made surface and environment in favor of the home team were not tough enough to keep me from playing my best indoor tennis ever and shutting up the American crowd."

Roger Federer

"Thank you, Lord, for making me realize that I am only human, by forcing me through my first year without a major title since 2003.

"I must confess that, at first, I thought life was just being unfair to me and that pursuing the career of a tennis player had been a mistake in the first place.

"But you made me realize that there is life beyond major tennis titles after all.

"And for that, I thank you a lot."

Andy Murray

"Thanks a lot, Mom, for publicly embarrassing me by calling Feliciano Lopez the nickname of “Deliciano” (something close to “delicious” in a liberal translation from Spanish) at Wimbledon and making me look like a fool in front of my friends.

"It certainly gave me motivation to go and kick his butt the next day in our quarterfinal match, won in three straight and comfortable sets."

Rafael Nadal

"Thanks a lot, Roger, for taking that Serbian guy out of the French Open final this year. As you know, he had kicked my butt the last four times we had played leading to Roland Garros, including two on clay, no?

"I could not have won my sixth title there without your help, since I have your number big time and therefore you cleared my way through the final against yourself."

Novak Djokovic

"Thank you, Lord, for making that crazy return on Roger’s serve at match point in the U.S. Open semifinal land inside the court. You know I had given up on that match.

"Without your divine intervention, not only would I have lost the chance to play in the final, but I also would have lashed out at the noisy New York crowd, who was getting on my nerves and who I don’t like anyway."