ATP Stans: Part I

Inspired by the phenomenal website, Stan Wars (which has taught me everything I needed to know about stans), I’ve decided to spread the wisdom and create a comprehensive guide to tennis stans.  In this first edition, I will cover the different variety of ATP stans.

Firstly, what is a ‘stan’?  (No, it’s not someone who abandons their wife and newborn child.)

The first two definitions from UrbanDictionary offer the following:

1. Stan
Based on the central character in the Eminem song of the same name, a “stan” is an overzealous maniacal fan for any celebrity or athlete.

A typical Kobe Bryant Stan would say something like:
“Kobe Bryant scored 81 points last night.  Kobe could beat God himself in a game of 1 on 1 hoops. To hell with Michael Jordan or Wilt Chamberlain, they aren’t on Kobe’s level!”

2. stan

an overobsessed fan to the point of following a star around.

It is formed from the words stalker and fan.

Stalker + fan = stan.

I’m trying to watch a Amerie video and all of these Beyonce stans keep saying “Amerie sucks, Beyonce’s better.”

*Sidenote 1: At this point, I’d like to clarify between the usage of “fangirl” and stan.  Fangirls are a subgroup of stans, often characterized by their devotion to male players on the basis of looks alone, with little knowledge of the game itself.  Often, fangirls are so offputting, they inspire a fierce backlash against the object of their devotion.  In rare cases, the “stanbase” for a player can be comprised almost entirely of fangirls.  For examples, please see: Marat Safin and Ernests Gulbis.

*Sidenote 2: Another interesting subset of the main stan group is “reverse stans.”  These stans are dedicated to hating specific players and often go out of their way to watch matches and read interviews with the player they hate.  Reverse stanning is often triggered by “pigeoning” (a number of successive losses to a particular player) or the perceived threat another player poses.  Stanning and reverse stanning are not mutually exclusive; for example, Rafael Nadal stans are usually also Roger Federer reverse stans.

So, now that we know what a stan is, where do we find them?  An ATP stan’s natural habitat is the wild — mainly, MensTennisForums.  While stans can also be found at Tennis-Warehouse forums, Twitter (large numbers of fangirls breed here), as well as the forums for players’ official websites, MTF is the elite of stanning, the Holy Grail, if you will.  There, we often find the most intense, diverse, and delusional ATP stans, who devote hundreds of hours per week defending a player who literally has no idea they exist.

ATP Stan Categories:

Roger Federer Stans
Federer stans are a curious group, with their number intensely fluctuating with Federer’s results.  Peak numbers were observed during the 2005-2007 years; however, they have steadily declined since, with many disappearing or converting to stans of more “successful” players.  Occasionally, stan numbers will abruptly resurge, as recently seen with Federer’s recent win over Novak Djokovic; however, these numbers quickly decreased to their normal size after Federer’s subsequent loss to Nadal.

The remaining Federer stans are generally literate with a good understanding of the game, in contrast to many other stan groups.  Many Federer stans are older (in tennis years), have been around since the last generation, and enjoy watching the current Nadal-Djokovic stan wars unfold.  However, they do have one weakness: GOATs.  Federer stans are extremely sensitive to any mention of the “GOAT” and will feverishly defend his GOAT status, using phrases like “skewed Head to Head,” “16 Grand Slams,” and “ballet tennis.”  Commentators like Mats Wilander and John McEnroe have incurred Federer stans’ eternal hatred for their incessant praise of Rafael Nadal and questioning of Federer’s greatness.  Above all, Federer stans are threatened by Rafael Nadal and as such, have formed unsteady alliances with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic stans.  In extreme cases, some stans may actually root against Federer, to accomplish a greater good of another player defeating Rafael Nadal and preserving Federer’s legacy.

Conversely, Federer stans react with pity or cool supremacy to the endangered number of Andy Roddick stans, probably because 20-2 speaks for itself.

The media used to contain huge numbers of Federer stans, but as both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have entered their prime, they have accordingly switched their allegiances.  See also: bandwagoning.

A stalwart Federer stan expressing frustration after Federer's 485973th loss to Nadal.

A former Federer Stan driven to conversion.

Federer Reverse Stans
Federer reverse stans will try and criticize Roger Federer for no reason and often the most insignificant of details.  Federer’s peak years were dark times for reverse stans, who often resorted to picking on Mirka, Federer’s wife, to make themselves feel good.  Today, common criticisms include: “arrogant!”, “robot,” “drama/fashion queen,” “queen,” “attention whore,” “cry baby,” and, if all else fails, “Mirka is ____.”  Recently, Federer’s reverse stans have turned their attention to other players, since Federer is no longer humiliating their favorites on a regular basis.

Infamous Reverse Stan incidents: Federer-Nadal 1-dimensional, Federer-Djokovic be quiet, Federer-Nadal 2009 Australian Open tears, Federer at every Wimbledon, Federer-Roddick “15.”

(Murray's got other problems.)

Continue on to Part II >

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