TSR Tennis Society IV

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The match is Murray's now. It'll finish tonight I'd imagine - so long as Monfils doesn't break here. So annoyed I'd missed that fourth set, by the looks of things, Monfils was kicking ass. He's crumbling now though, oh well :frown:

Reply 861

Badshah

Disappointing from Monfils in the 5th, but good for Murray to finish this match today with Nadal waiting in the SF.

Reply 862

username991125

Don't think the cheering helped Monfils either. Lol.
Can't wait for Nadal vs Murray.

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Reply 863

Kado

Monfils threw that one away completely, just tried to smack a winner off every ball in the final set. Credit to Murray for staying with it.

Reply 864

Krish4791

Phenomenal 5th set from Andy! He can really give Nadal trouble on Friday, because unlike Ferrer Andy's a Slam champion and his mentality is much better.

Reply 865

username310124

French crowd terrible? The Wimbledon crowd is just as bad, if not worse. Hypocritical.

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Reply 866

Badshah

Suddenly, Murray is starting to look good again. Good for him. He should be in the top 4 by the end of the year.

Reply 867

Krish4791

Original post by CB91

French crowd terrible? The Wimbledon crowd is just as bad, if not worse. Hypocritical.

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I find the Wimbledon crowd very respectful, even when Murray or another Brit is playing they always applaud the opponent. Have never heard any booing/jeering on Centre Court, certainly not over line calls unlike the French

Reply 868

ThatPerson

Brilliant match, but I think Nadal will beat Murray in the semi-final. I also don't like the French crowd that much.

Reply 869

Krish4791

I think Nadal will probably defeat Murray, but it is bound to be a tight match, maybe 4 tight sets - that could soften him up for Novak in the finals (assuming of course that Novak gets there).

Reply 870

username991125

Original post by CB91

French crowd terrible? The Wimbledon crowd is just as bad, if not worse. Hypocritical.

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The Wimbledon crowd cheers an awful lot for Murray, yes. It's extremely noticeable.
But they don't cheer at the opponent's errors!

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Reply 871

Ritter

Original post by yennibubs

The Wimbledon crowd cheers an awful lot for Murray, yes. It's extremely noticeable.
But they don't cheer at the opponent's errors!

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Exactly.

The crowds at these European clay court events are all ********s anyway. Murray isn't particularly popular on the continent, probably because they see him as boring and defensive - but mainly because he's not one of these greasy haired, ultra tanned poster boys. Can you imagine the breakdown if Murray does Nadal in the SF. Absolutely glorious scenes.

Reply 872

Rakas21

Original post by Krish4791

Phenomenal 5th set from Andy! He can really give Nadal trouble on Friday, because unlike Ferrer Andy's a Slam champion and his mentality is much better.

It will be tighter but there's not a chance that he'll win.

Reply 873

Krish4791

Original post by Rakas21

It will be tighter but there's not a chance that he'll win.

I don't think he'll win - there's only one player who can beat Rafa his year at RG.

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Reply 874

Krish4791

Original post by Ritter

Having said that, Nadal's not exactly loved by the French crowd either. I actually think more of the support will be with Andy on Friday.

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Reply 875

Ritter

Original post by Krish4791

Having said that, Nadal's not exactly loved by the French crowd either. I actually think more of the support will be with Andy on Friday.

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I find this quite surprising. What makes you say that?

Reply 876

Krish4791

Original post by Ritter

I find this quite surprising. What makes you say that?

I'll break down what I think might be the case into these steps:

1. The crowd loves French players
2. They also really really love Federer (which is ok because I like him too), but at the same time they hate Nadal, perhaps because the latter has denied the former from winning the title quite a few times. I was at RG once in 2011, and I heard some of the French fans express their dislike for Rafa's game, referring to it as being "anti-tennis".
3. In 2009, the one time Rafa lost, the crowd cheered whole-heartedly for Robin Soderling - they shouted themselves hoarse every time Rafa made an error.
4. Rafa will of course have his own section of supporters, but this will probably be outweighed by the huge numbers of British supporters that are either based there or have journeyed there to lend their support to Andy Murray (as discovered during the Kohlschreiber match).
5. The French crowd of course want to see a different winner, and the prospect of someone toppling Nadal excites them. They also tend to prefer players with flair and variety - IMO, Murray has a bit more of that in his game than Rafa, and that becomes even more apparent on the red dirt

That's just my thinking (I'm speaking in quite general terms)

Reply 877

Ritter

Original post by Krish4791

I always got the impression they took very well to Nadal. I know they're also very keen on Federer too, but didn't think this affected their opinions on Nadal. I think the 'anti-tennis' remark and the incidents surrounding the Soderling match sum the French up though. Not the most respectful of supporters. Having said that, at any tournament (and Wimbledon is really really bad for this) a large percentage of those around the courts are day-trippers, and not real tennis fans.

I'd take Federer over Nadal anyday too, but I'd imagine the crowd will be mainly in support of Nadal, it'll also depend a lot on the direction in which the match goes as well.

Reply 878

Kado

It's common knowledge that the French crowd are not fans of Nadal, but I expect they will be more behind him than Murray purely because Murray took out Monfils in a close match.

Reply 879

Rakas21

Original post by Krish4791

I don't think he'll win - there's only one player who can beat Rafa his year at RG.

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While part of me does want Djokovic to win i think that Nadal has a psychological edge in the later stages of the FO, he just feels comfortable and that's especially because he faces the same players. If he's going to be beaten at the FO it will be a shock from somebody unexpected that takes advantage of his slow starts. Once he's beaten once we'll see him much less secure even in the final stages though.

Original post by Krish4791

Having said that, Nadal's not exactly loved by the French crowd either. I actually think more of the support will be with Andy on Friday.

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Nadal at the French is a bit like Shumacher in F1 or Blair in politics. People like a winner and so in the early days he probably had the neutrals but after a string of wins you start getting apathy. This coupled with the fact that Federer has that persona and beauty to his game mean that Nadal has become the villain.

He won't be hated deep down, he's just not popular for winning all the time.