humor

There are so many instances where you wish you could be a "fly on the wall" or some other cliché about eavesdropping, not necessarily because you want to hear some juicy gossip but rather because you want to hear someone's inside thoughts or private mumbling.

Imagine professional football players being mic'd up on the field—what on Earth would they be saying to themselves while safely out of earshot of their coaches or teammate that fumbled a perfect pass? It's like a sneak peek into a private world that the general public isn't usually privy to.

There have been some on-mic moments the world got to witness, like when a hockey goalie was mic'd up and caught giving himself a pep talk or when an NFL linebacker was caught looking for his mom in the stands. Those moments were so unexpectedly wholesome, you might expect the same when professional tennis players are mic'd up for a charity match.

Except in this case, things got a little less wholesome and a little more NSFW pretty quickly.

It's not because the tennis players were chucking racquets and swearing like sailors. They were simply playing the game as intended, but even the players couldn't stop laughing. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka faced off against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari for a doubles charity match ahead of the Australian Open 2024. The four were mic'd for the event and accidental hilarity ensued as sounds from the players hitting the ball echoed through the stands at a decibel most are not used to.

In the clip posted to Reddit, Djokovic can be heard cackling saying, "This is going to be so good," while Sabalenka does her best to not burst into hysterical laughter when she tries not to grunt hitting the ball. Djokovic teases his teammate, "Ahh come on, you're famous for your grunt," to which she replies, "People will leave here if I'm going to be loud." The pair are barely keeping it together but the match must continue.

The four players hit the ball back and forth increasingly sounding like a little afternoon delight is taking place, which causes the audience and players to burst out in laughter. There's really no getting around what this tennis match sounds like, and it's not safe for work in the most innocent way possible.

Novak Djokovic | On the practice court at the Fever-Tree Cha… | Flickrwww.flickr.com

Either the person who thought to mic up the players knew what the sounds would resemble and did it as a practical joke, or even better, they didn't know and everyone was embarrassingly surprised. If you've ever heard a tennis match being played then you're aware of all of the grunts and moans that occur when a player hits the ball. Usually those sounds are muffled by distance so they sound a lot less...inappropriate.

The mics attached right next to the players mouths made every moan, grunt, and heavy, fast paced breathing sound as if you walked in on Cinemax after dark. Suddenly a charity tennis match made amplified sounds that made it seem as if children shouldn't be present and none of the players could stop laughing.

Aryna Sabalenka in 2017commons.wikimedia.org

Commenters are Reddit also couldn't get enough of the accidentally inappropriate sounding match with one writing, "This would make tennis so much more popular! LOVE IT!"

Another person writes, "Once my family sponsored a tennis event at the Staples Center. I saw Sheripova play against Williams and they both would grunt so loud. Williams was very manly and Sheripova was just like the video. The entire match everyone was dying laughing."

"This is hilarious. I'm surprised this is the first time i've seen them do this," one person says.

"Great way to raise the collective energy. This should be done more often, funny stuff," someone else jokes.

French Open Reaction GIF by Roland-GarrosGiphy

"Whoever had the idea to do this either overlooked this completely, or knew exactly what they were doing," one commenter shares while another responds, "They watched that one episode of American Dad and was like 'I have an idea.'"

The entire charity match is on YouTube, but be sure not to have the volume up too loud if you plan to listen to it in the office...or in the living room. Maybe just keep your headphones in while you get a chuckle at the players making interesting noises while trying to win a game.

Watch the entire match below: