Ferrer shoving line judges

[britbox]

Not very polite...

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZbGl2XtVXM[/video]

and not the first time (did it at the USO)

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Ca_Nzjzuw[/video]

The crowd is exempt either... particularly those under a year old.

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgbxPcOBGrc[/video]

 

[Front242]

Hope he gets fined. Ridiculous carry on.

 

[calitennis127]

Man oh man. I have to say after seeing those videos that Spanish tennis players are clearly just as likely to be violent as American football players.

It would be really "ignorant" to suggest otherwise. These videos prove it.

 

[britbox]

I thought you'd enjoy them Cali. I guess Ferrer is only some gold bling and a few rap songs away from being a hyper-masculine multi-slam winner?

 

[House]

I think he is getting an enormous pass on this issue actually. Not like it was the end of the world, or even that great of an offense really, but if this was a player like Serena, Fed, Nadal, or Novak this thread would be 50 pages long IMO.

I also didn't like his behavior in the match prior to this one when he was interacting with a ball boy trying to get his a towel. Don't particularly care for someone barking at a kid for not bringing him his sweaty nasty towel fast enough.

 

[Moxie]

^Hey, House! Good to see you.

 

[calitennis127]

I thought you'd enjoy them Cali. I guess Ferrer is only some gold bling and a few rap songs away from being a hyper-masculine multi-slam winner?

More like 6 inches of height and 30-40 pounds of extra body mass.

But don't be sarcastic about that mentality when it comes to tennis. You should have noticed what it has done for Serena and Venus. Serena is no mild little tennis chick at the country club. Her mentality has a ton to do with how she has been so dominant.

I will also say that Ferrer is one of the toughest players mentally and physically on tour, and that mindset is what has propelled him to the success he has had despite being as small as he is. He is actually one of the few tennis players who does have some of that kind of hardcore (American) toughness in his mentality. The significance of it shows in how he often dominates rallies against much bigger opponents and how he very defiantly refuses to back down.

 

[britbox]

I've never suggested anywhere that mental strength isn't a big factor. What I've said was acting like a jerk doesn't automatically make you mentally strong, and being french doesn't make you mentally weak.

 

[House]

^Hey, House! Good to see you.

Hey Moxie. How's it going

 

[Moxie]

I think he is getting an enormous pass on this issue actually. Not like it was the end of the world, or even that great of an offense really, but if this was a player like Serena, Fed, Nadal, or Novak this thread would be 50 pages long IMO.

I also didn't like his behavior in the match prior to this one when he was interacting with a ball boy trying to get his a towel. Don't particularly care for someone barking at a kid for not bringing him his sweaty nasty towel fast enough.

I agree with you, it's not the end of the world. Rude, boorish, surely. (I couldn't see the 3rd video, as it doesn't play in my area, and I didn't see the incident you mention about barking at a ball kid.) But you're right, if it were a higher-profile player, it would be huge. However, on the videos I can see, it's rather the kind of thing that, had it been accompanied by an 'excuse me,' no one would blink. I'm not here to defend Ferrer, and was fully prepared to give him a hard time, when I saw the title, but let's also not go overboard. It's ill-mannered, arrogant behavior, but not violent and no one was injured. (Unlike in a certain previous event involving an Argentinian player who shall remain nameless.) He will get what he deserves, which is discussions like these on the internet and social media, and a diminishment of his reputation. And if the ITF sees fit, a fine.

 

[House]

I think he is getting an enormous pass on this issue actually. Not like it was the end of the world, or even that great of an offense really, but if this was a player like Serena, Fed, Nadal, or Novak this thread would be 50 pages long IMO.

I also didn't like his behavior in the match prior to this one when he was interacting with a ball boy trying to get his a towel. Don't particularly care for someone barking at a kid for not bringing him his sweaty nasty towel fast enough.

I agree with you, it's not the end of the world. Rude, boorish, surely. (I couldn't see the 3rd video, as it doesn't play in my area, and I didn't see the incident you mention about barking at a ball kid.) But you're right, if it were a higher-profile player, it would be huge. However, on the videos I can see, it's rather the kind of thing that, had it been accompanied by an 'excuse me,' no one would blink. I'm not here to defend Ferrer, and was fully prepared to give him a hard time, when I saw the title, but let's also not go overboard. It's ill-mannered, arrogant behavior, but not violent and no one was injured. (Unlike in a certain previous event involving an Argentinian player who shall remain nameless.) He will get what he deserves, which is discussions like these on the internet and social media, and a diminishment of his reputation. And if the ITF sees fit, a fine.

It wasn't a huge interaction with the ball boy, but it just came back to me when I saw this.

I'm certainly not condemning him over this. I've seen Johnny Mac play tennis. He was worse to anybody and everybody he could lol. Players don't always behave like themselves on the court. Especially under pressure

 

[calitennis127]

I've never suggested anywhere that mental strength isn't a big factor.

No, what you're suggesting is that what you're calling being a jerk has nothing at all to do with the mentality the athletes have while they are playing. You separate the two with an arbitrary dichotomy. I take issue with that.

What I've said was acting like a jerk doesn't automatically make you mentally strong,

I never said that either. Please consult the other thread because you evidently passed over my comments on that subject.

and being french doesn't make you mentally weak.

I never said that either. What I said was that at the highest levels of athletic competition, French players do tend to display mental weakness or softness more than their opposition. This doesn't mean they are 100% soft in every conceivable way.

What it does mean though is that there is no way that Monfils or Tsonga, with their athletic gifts, would bow out of prominent matches as they have over the years, if they had more of a Roddick-Serena-Fish mentality in them.

I can't ever imagine Andy Roddick, if he had Tsonga's athleticism and forehand, bowing out as meekly as Tsonga did against Ferrer in the FO semi last year. Likewise, I cannot imagine Roddick or Serena, if they were in Monfils' super-athletic body, losing two sets to Nadal 6-1, 6-2 on a medium-paced hardcourt.

Sorry, I just don't see it. Mentality makes a huge difference here.

 

[isabelle]

I didn't expect that from Ferrer..Ii thought he was a polite guy

 

[tented]

I think he is getting an enormous pass on this issue actually. Not like it was the end of the world, or even that great of an offense really, but if this was a player like Serena, Fed, Nadal, or Novak this thread would be 50 pages long IMO.

I also didn't like his behavior in the match prior to this one when he was interacting with a ball boy trying to get his a towel. Don't particularly care for someone barking at a kid for not bringing him his sweaty nasty towel fast enough.

Ferrer is feeling the pressure and the weight of expectation which goes with his current ranking, and it's affecting his on-court behavior in an unnecessary, ugly manner. The line judges, ball kids, etc. don't deserve to be yelled at or shoved. I always hated the way Roddick would sometimes treat line judges, too. Taking out their frustrations on others isn't going to help the situation.

 

[SF Nadalite]

Has anyone heard from David on this?

It seemed kind of strange - they made a huge deal out of it on ESPN. It seemed odd that the linesman was just staring blankly ahead while Ferrer and the ballboy were exchanging the towels... a bit in a way to suggest that he was removed from this activity (of where the towels are supposed to be kept during play).

It happened during the middle of the match, so I can't figure out why it became a problem then.

 

[calitennis127]

I think he is getting an enormous pass on this issue actually. Not like it was the end of the world, or even that great of an offense really, but if this was a player like Serena, Fed, Nadal, or Novak this thread would be 50 pages long IMO.

I also didn't like his behavior in the match prior to this one when he was interacting with a ball boy trying to get his a towel. Don't particularly care for someone barking at a kid for not bringing him his sweaty nasty towel fast enough.

Ferrer is feeling the pressure and the weight of expectation which goes with his current ranking, and it's affecting his on-court behavior in an unnecessary, ugly manner. The line judges, ball kids, etc. don't deserve to be yelled at or shoved. I always hated the way Roddick would sometimes treat line judges, too. Taking out their frustrations on others isn't going to help the situation.

True about Roddick. He made it plain as day that he was venting his frustration about the course of matches on line judges and umpires.

 

[lacatch]

Unfortunately, Roddick too often came off as a petulant spoiled child...

 

[Front242]

Maybe, but there was also a classic humourous side to him. Some hilarious clips on youtube.

 

[calitennis127]

Unfortunately, Roddick too often came off as a petulant spoiled child...

Who didn't have the talent of the most elite....

 

[Moxie]

Unfortunately, Roddick too often came off as a petulant spoiled child...

Who didn't have the talent of the most elite....

Which has nothing to do with this thread. Which, by the way, is another of the two tempests in a teapots that seem to have boiled up from the last few rounds. No reason not to explore controversy, so no-harm/no-foul, but I don't think either adds up to much.