Wimbledon Day 7: Monday, June 30 - Order of Play

[Front242]

The things that bother people about some players are pretty odd to me. Is Nadal showing his anus to the world? There's a LOT to dislike about Nadal. Picking his underwear shouldn't be one of them.

Tell that to the guy who has to shake his hand! And he picks one side and fondles the other! :nono

 

[brokenshoelace]

And even if he plays normal I don't think he is beating Murray here.

If Djokovic plays like he is playing today, he will definitely have a good shot of beating Murray.

The point is Djokovic won't play like this, because he's been such a head case in the last few rounds of GSs.

I really think this is mostly tennisfrontier propaganda. He hasn't brought his best in finals, to say the least. That however makes him neither a mental midget nor a headcase. It's just that it's been repeated here so many times that everyone just sort of believes it.

And the last time he won one was ... well, I almost forget.

He hasn't won a major outside Australia since 2011, despite being in several semifinals, if not finals. Something is going wrong in the later stages of GSs, yet he's playing well enough to reach them on a regular basis. If that's not a sign of something mental going on, then I don't know what is. Losing here in straight sets last year in a wholly uninspired performance. Completely going away at last year's USO after losing the third set. Etc, etc.

This is another tennis propaganda special: "A major out of Australia." So Australian majors don't count? Is Novak a mental midget everywhere in the world but Australia? Koalas help him not be a headcase? Why are we not counting the Australian Open? Because it puts a dent in the argument?

Yeah, he hasn't done well in major finals as off late. Is it mental? Part of it, of course. Does that make him a headcase or a mental midget? Please. What final did he blow away? It's not like he reaches the final playing lights out tennis only to lose. That's what makes me chuckle about this narrative. You'd think Novak was showing his 2011 form in every tournament and every GS round only to forget how to hold a racket in the final.

Who did he lose finals to? Nadal and Murray. Two of the lost finals to Nadal were at RG on clay, I don't really think this needs any explanation. The US Open loss happened when Nadal was in the form of his life on hards, while Djokovic hadn't been playing great tennis throughout that summer. Again, look at his results in Montreal and Cinci, or his 5-setter with Wawrinka at the US Open. Whatever happened to just not playing your best for a while? Every player goes through that.

As far as the losses to Murray. The wind wreaked havoc at the US Open in 2012 and it favored Murray. I'll concede that the Wimbledon loss was a pretty substandard performance by Djokovic but Murray is the better grass court player.

Anyway, when you lose as many finals, and you're as good as Djokovic, then something is definitely wrong and you need to fix it (probably more than one thing). Attributing it to Djokovic being a mental midge (DarthFed) or a headcase (tented) is just lazy.

 

[brokenshoelace]

The things that bother people about some players are pretty odd to me. Is Nadal showing his anus to the world? There's a LOT to dislike about Nadal. Picking his underwear shouldn't be one of them.

Tell that to the guy who has to shake his hand! And he picks one side and fondles the other! :nono

Nadal is picking his shorts. He's not actually fingering himself (sorry for the graphic description).

 

[Front242]

The things that bother people about some players are pretty odd to me. Is Nadal showing his anus to the world? There's a LOT to dislike about Nadal. Picking his underwear shouldn't be one of them.

Tell that to the guy who has to shake his hand! And he picks one side and fondles the other! :nono

Nadal is picking his shorts. He's not actually fingering himself (sorry for the graphic description).

:laydownlaughing:lolz:

 

[TennisFanatic7]

I don't see a problem with it if the opponent hits a "forced" error, as subjective as that term can be. Murray and Nadal play in a fashion that by using their own resilience and consistency, they win the point through an opponent's error.

I do get annoyed at Andy when he clutches a hamstring or a hip if he gets outhit for a point though.

Well forced errors are fine but I'm talking routine shot blasted miles wide or into the net and then him yelling "om on" or at least that's what it sounds like! Did it loads against Anderson. And yeah the body part grabs are his trademark

I didn't think it was that bad myself. I think if you get to three or four difficult shots, get them back in play, and your opponent then misses, it's okay to pat yourself on the back for it, for the shots you retrieved, not for the other guy handing you the point, of course.

 

[Iona16]

Match point was class but wish he'd stop with the Robert De Niro style pout.

"Are you talking to me?" :snigger

Better than someone else digging in the front and back of his trousers after every point...

or another guy carrying on a detailed and expletive laced conversation with himself while repeatedly forgetting which "injured" leg to grab after a lost point.

Is this tit for tat really necessary?

There are plenty of player quirks, habits etc that annoy me but I either accept them or I don't watch said player. I'm going to take the high road and ignore the digs at Murray, which for the record I think are very unfair.

 

[Backhand_DTL]

If Djokovic plays like he is playing today, he will definitely have a good shot of beating Murray.

The point is Djokovic won't play like this, because he's been such a head case in the last few rounds of GSs.

I really think this is mostly tennisfrontier propaganda. He hasn't brought his best in finals, to say the least. That however makes him neither a mental midget nor a headcase. It's just that it's been repeated here so many times that everyone just sort of believes it.

And the last time he won one was ... well, I almost forget.

He hasn't won a major outside Australia since 2011, despite being in several semifinals, if not finals. Something is going wrong in the later stages of GSs, yet he's playing well enough to reach them on a regular basis. If that's not a sign of something mental going on, then I don't know what is. Losing here in straight sets last year in a wholly uninspired performance. Completely going away at last year's USO after losing the third set. Etc, etc.

This is another tennis propaganda special: "A major out of Australia." So Australian majors don't count? Is Novak a mental midget everywhere in the world but Australia? Koalas help him not be a headcase? Why are we not counting the Australian Open? Because it puts a dent in the argument?

Yeah, he hasn't done well in major finals as off late. Is it mental? Part of it, of course. Does that make him a headcase or a mental midget? Please. What final did he blow away? It's not like he reaches the final playing lights out tennis only to lose. That's what makes me chuckle about this narrative. You'd think Novak was showing his 2011 form in every tournament and every GS round only to forget how to hold a racket in the final.

Who did he lose finals to? Nadal and Murray. Two of the lost finals to Nadal were at RG on clay, I don't really think this needs any explanation. The US Open loss happened when Nadal was in the form of his life on hards, while Djokovic hadn't been playing great tennis throughout that summer. Again, look at his results in Montreal and Cinci, or his 5-setter with Wawrinka at the US Open. Whatever happened to just not playing your best for a while? Every player goes through that.

As far as the losses to Murray. The wind wreaked havoc at the US Open in 2012 and it favored Murray. I'll concede that the Wimbledon loss was a pretty substandard performance by Djokovic but Murray is the better grass court player.

Anyway, when you lose as many finals, and you're as good as Djokovic, then something is definitely wrong and you need to fix it (probably more than one thing). Attributing it to Djokovic being a mental midge (DarthFed) or a headcase (tented) is just lazy.

I would agree with this. What helps him in Australia is that he matches up rather well with all top players on that kind of surface, whereas at the other Slams when playing well at least one of Nadal, Federer and Murray is a difficult task for him.

If I think about it I would say that since 2012 the only occassion where he really seemed to play better during the tournament than the opponent he lost to was the US Open 2012. At the French Open 2012 and US Open 2013 he looked worse and at the other ones it was more or less even and hard to tell who was in better form before. So each loss on its own isn't even that surprising, but that he won none of those seemingly close to 50/50 matches indicates that there is some problem, although at the US Open 2012, French Open 2013 and 2014 and possibly Wimbledon 2012 the conditions probably influenced the result significantly.

 

[nehmeth]

Match point was class but wish he'd stop with the Robert De Niro style pout.

"Are you talking to me?" :snigger

Better than someone else digging in the front and back of his trousers after every point...

or another guy carrying on a detailed and expletive laced conversation with himself while repeatedly forgetting which "injured" leg to grab after a lost point.

Is this tit for tat really necessary?

There are plenty of player quirks, habits etc that annoy me but I either accept them or I don't watch said player. I'm going to take the high road and ignore the digs at Murray, which for the record I think are very unfair.

Thanks Iona. My point was that they all have quirks that other fans find bothersome. I understand that the crowd wanted more tennis, and that maybe they'd rather see Murray play Jo or Marin instead of Novak. I just got done watching the third set and I can also understand why Novak made the face after match point.

 

[DarthFed]

If Djokovic plays like he is playing today, he will definitely have a good shot of beating Murray.

The point is Djokovic won't play like this, because he's been such a head case in the last few rounds of GSs.

I really think this is mostly tennisfrontier propaganda. He hasn't brought his best in finals, to say the least. That however makes him neither a mental midget nor a headcase. It's just that it's been repeated here so many times that everyone just sort of believes it.

And the last time he won one was ... well, I almost forget.

He hasn't won a major outside Australia since 2011, despite being in several semifinals, if not finals. Something is going wrong in the later stages of GSs, yet he's playing well enough to reach them on a regular basis. If that's not a sign of something mental going on, then I don't know what is. Losing here in straight sets last year in a wholly uninspired performance. Completely going away at last year's USO after losing the third set. Etc, etc.

This is another tennis propaganda special: "A major out of Australia." So Australian majors don't count? Is Novak a mental midget everywhere in the world but Australia? Koalas help him not be a headcase? Why are we not counting the Australian Open? Because it puts a dent in the argument?

Yeah, he hasn't done well in major finals as off late. Is it mental? Part of it, of course. Does that make him a headcase or a mental midget? Please. What final did he blow away? It's not like he reaches the final playing lights out tennis only to lose. That's what makes me chuckle about this narrative. You'd think Novak was showing his 2011 form in every tournament and every GS round only to forget how to hold a racket in the final.

Who did he lose finals to? Nadal and Murray. Two of the lost finals to Nadal were at RG on clay, I don't really think this needs any explanation. The US Open loss happened when Nadal was in the form of his life on hards, while Djokovic hadn't been playing great tennis throughout that summer. Again, look at his results in Montreal and Cinci, or his 5-setter with Wawrinka at the US Open. Whatever happened to just not playing your best for a while? Every player goes through that.

As far as the losses to Murray. The wind wreaked havoc at the US Open in 2012 and it favored Murray. I'll concede that the Wimbledon loss was a pretty substandard performance by Djokovic but Murray is the better grass court player.

Anyway, when you lose as many finals, and you're as good as Djokovic, then something is definitely wrong and you need to fix it (probably more than one thing). Attributing it to Djokovic being a mental midge (DarthFed) or a headcase (tented) is just lazy.

Well that's the thing, he HAS been lights out before the semis of pretty much every tournament the last 3.5 years with, ironically, the exception of AO this year where he had a disastrous loss at his best slam. Not bringing a good level at the business end of the big tournaments is certainly something to worry about. And after more than a half dozen poor performances in the big matches at what point do you consider it to be mostly mental?

 

[the AntiPusher]

The things that bother people about some players are pretty odd to me. Is Nadal showing his anus to the world? There's a LOT to dislike about Nadal. Picking his underwear shouldn't be one of them.

Tell that to the guy who has to shake his hand! And he picks one side and fondles the other! :nono

I have stated numerous of time.. I would just give Rafa hand dukes instead of shaking his hands afterwards of a match:nono

 

[Backhand_DTL]

The point is Djokovic won't play like this, because he's been such a head case in the last few rounds of GSs.

I really think this is mostly tennisfrontier propaganda. He hasn't brought his best in finals, to say the least. That however makes him neither a mental midget nor a headcase. It's just that it's been repeated here so many times that everyone just sort of believes it.

And the last time he won one was ... well, I almost forget.

He hasn't won a major outside Australia since 2011, despite being in several semifinals, if not finals. Something is going wrong in the later stages of GSs, yet he's playing well enough to reach them on a regular basis. If that's not a sign of something mental going on, then I don't know what is. Losing here in straight sets last year in a wholly uninspired performance. Completely going away at last year's USO after losing the third set. Etc, etc.

This is another tennis propaganda special: "A major out of Australia." So Australian majors don't count? Is Novak a mental midget everywhere in the world but Australia? Koalas help him not be a headcase? Why are we not counting the Australian Open? Because it puts a dent in the argument?

Yeah, he hasn't done well in major finals as off late. Is it mental? Part of it, of course. Does that make him a headcase or a mental midget? Please. What final did he blow away? It's not like he reaches the final playing lights out tennis only to lose. That's what makes me chuckle about this narrative. You'd think Novak was showing his 2011 form in every tournament and every GS round only to forget how to hold a racket in the final.

Who did he lose finals to? Nadal and Murray. Two of the lost finals to Nadal were at RG on clay, I don't really think this needs any explanation. The US Open loss happened when Nadal was in the form of his life on hards, while Djokovic hadn't been playing great tennis throughout that summer. Again, look at his results in Montreal and Cinci, or his 5-setter with Wawrinka at the US Open. Whatever happened to just not playing your best for a while? Every player goes through that.

As far as the losses to Murray. The wind wreaked havoc at the US Open in 2012 and it favored Murray. I'll concede that the Wimbledon loss was a pretty substandard performance by Djokovic but Murray is the better grass court player.

Anyway, when you lose as many finals, and you're as good as Djokovic, then something is definitely wrong and you need to fix it (probably more than one thing). Attributing it to Djokovic being a mental midge (DarthFed) or a headcase (tented) is just lazy.

Well that's the thing, he HAS been lights out before the semis of pretty much every tournament the last 3.5 years with, ironically, the exception of AO this year where he had a disastrous loss at his best slam. Not bringing a good level at the business end of the big tournaments is certainly something to worry about. And after more than a half dozen poor performances in the big matches at what point do you consider it to be mostly mental?

I don't think he is that great before the semis usually, as he often loses concentration for short periods and rarely gets through the first five matches without the loss of a set. But except if an opponent is playing extremely well he's that much superior, that he doesn't need to do anything special to win comfortably anyway.

So to me it's not that Novak suddenly plays worse in the final stages, but that he often can't significantly raise his level during a tournament the way especially Nadal can.

 

[brokenshoelace]

The point is Djokovic won't play like this, because he's been such a head case in the last few rounds of GSs.

I really think this is mostly tennisfrontier propaganda. He hasn't brought his best in finals, to say the least. That however makes him neither a mental midget nor a headcase. It's just that it's been repeated here so many times that everyone just sort of believes it.

And the last time he won one was ... well, I almost forget.

He hasn't won a major outside Australia since 2011, despite being in several semifinals, if not finals. Something is going wrong in the later stages of GSs, yet he's playing well enough to reach them on a regular basis. If that's not a sign of something mental going on, then I don't know what is. Losing here in straight sets last year in a wholly uninspired performance. Completely going away at last year's USO after losing the third set. Etc, etc.

This is another tennis propaganda special: "A major out of Australia." So Australian majors don't count? Is Novak a mental midget everywhere in the world but Australia? Koalas help him not be a headcase? Why are we not counting the Australian Open? Because it puts a dent in the argument?

Yeah, he hasn't done well in major finals as off late. Is it mental? Part of it, of course. Does that make him a headcase or a mental midget? Please. What final did he blow away? It's not like he reaches the final playing lights out tennis only to lose. That's what makes me chuckle about this narrative. You'd think Novak was showing his 2011 form in every tournament and every GS round only to forget how to hold a racket in the final.

Who did he lose finals to? Nadal and Murray. Two of the lost finals to Nadal were at RG on clay, I don't really think this needs any explanation. The US Open loss happened when Nadal was in the form of his life on hards, while Djokovic hadn't been playing great tennis throughout that summer. Again, look at his results in Montreal and Cinci, or his 5-setter with Wawrinka at the US Open. Whatever happened to just not playing your best for a while? Every player goes through that.

As far as the losses to Murray. The wind wreaked havoc at the US Open in 2012 and it favored Murray. I'll concede that the Wimbledon loss was a pretty substandard performance by Djokovic but Murray is the better grass court player.

Anyway, when you lose as many finals, and you're as good as Djokovic, then something is definitely wrong and you need to fix it (probably more than one thing). Attributing it to Djokovic being a mental midge (DarthFed) or a headcase (tented) is just lazy.

I would agree with this. What helps him in Australia is that he matches up rather well with all top players on that kind of surface, whereas at the other Slams when playing well at least one of Nadal, Federer and Murray is a difficult task for him.

If I think about it I would say that since 2012 the only occassion where he really seemed to play better during the tournament than the opponent he lost to was the US Open 2012. At the French Open 2012 and US Open 2013 he looked worse and at the other ones it was more or less even and hard to tell who was in better form before. So each loss on its own isn't even that surprising, but that he won none of those seemingly close to 50/50 matches indicates that there is some problem, although at the US Open 2012, French Open 2013 and 2014 and possibly Wimbledon 2012 the conditions probably influenced the result significantly.

Yeah absolutely. As I said, when you're as good as Djokovic, you shouldn't settle for losing so many Grand Slam finals. Yes, each loss on its own is fine but combined together, he definitely should have done better. In that regard, as I said, there is a problem and he needs to fix it. I'm sure some of it is mental/focus related, and Novak alluded to that when he brought on Boris Becker. I just don't think it's some sort of general indication of Novak not being all there mentally.

 

[brokenshoelace]

The point is Djokovic won't play like this, because he's been such a head case in the last few rounds of GSs.

I really think this is mostly tennisfrontier propaganda. He hasn't brought his best in finals, to say the least. That however makes him neither a mental midget nor a headcase. It's just that it's been repeated here so many times that everyone just sort of believes it.

And the last time he won one was ... well, I almost forget.

He hasn't won a major outside Australia since 2011, despite being in several semifinals, if not finals. Something is going wrong in the later stages of GSs, yet he's playing well enough to reach them on a regular basis. If that's not a sign of something mental going on, then I don't know what is. Losing here in straight sets last year in a wholly uninspired performance. Completely going away at last year's USO after losing the third set. Etc, etc.

This is another tennis propaganda special: "A major out of Australia." So Australian majors don't count? Is Novak a mental midget everywhere in the world but Australia? Koalas help him not be a headcase? Why are we not counting the Australian Open? Because it puts a dent in the argument?

Yeah, he hasn't done well in major finals as off late. Is it mental? Part of it, of course. Does that make him a headcase or a mental midget? Please. What final did he blow away? It's not like he reaches the final playing lights out tennis only to lose. That's what makes me chuckle about this narrative. You'd think Novak was showing his 2011 form in every tournament and every GS round only to forget how to hold a racket in the final.

Who did he lose finals to? Nadal and Murray. Two of the lost finals to Nadal were at RG on clay, I don't really think this needs any explanation. The US Open loss happened when Nadal was in the form of his life on hards, while Djokovic hadn't been playing great tennis throughout that summer. Again, look at his results in Montreal and Cinci, or his 5-setter with Wawrinka at the US Open. Whatever happened to just not playing your best for a while? Every player goes through that.

As far as the losses to Murray. The wind wreaked havoc at the US Open in 2012 and it favored Murray. I'll concede that the Wimbledon loss was a pretty substandard performance by Djokovic but Murray is the better grass court player.

Anyway, when you lose as many finals, and you're as good as Djokovic, then something is definitely wrong and you need to fix it (probably more than one thing). Attributing it to Djokovic being a mental midge (DarthFed) or a headcase (tented) is just lazy.

Well that's the thing, he HAS been lights out before the semis of pretty much every tournament the last 3.5 years with, ironically, the exception of AO this year where he had a disastrous loss at his best slam. Not bringing a good level at the business end of the big tournaments is certainly something to worry about. And after more than a half dozen poor performances in the big matches at what point do you consider it to be mostly mental?

Did Novak really play lights out on the way to the FO final in 2012? He lost to Nadal in 2 clay finals before that, and went to five sets twice at the FO (vs. Seppi and Tsonga). To be honest, I don't recall how he was playing prior to the US Open final that year but I think he got crushed by Federer at Cinci and he dropped a set to Ferrer in NY on his way to the final. He definitely wasn't playing lights out at the FO in 2013 (he had a poor clay season after Monte Carlo), and his NA hard court form was pretty shaky throughout. The only time I really remember Novak being absolutely lights out after 2011 was last fall.

As I said though, I'm not saying there's nothing mental about it. But I do think the narrative that he plays unbelievable leading up to majors and throughout them only to fall apart in the final is false.

 

[Backhand_DTL]

My impression is that Novak regularly gets very nervous or negative at important moments or when things don't seem to go his way since the French Open semi final last year. Even in matches he won like against Del Potro at Wimbledon, against Federer in Indian Wells, against Cilic at the French Open or versus Stepanek last week he made things harder on himself than they should have been and just got through by being the better/fitter player in general or a bit of help from the opponent.

I don't know if it's just coincidence, but since that match he seems mentally much more vulnerable to me than during the 2 1/2 years before.

To be honest, I don't recall how he was playing prior to the US Open final that year but I think he got crushed by Federer at Cinci and he dropped a set to Ferrer in NY on his way to the final.

He was really good at that tournament. He hardly lost games through the first four rounds and then beat an at times very good playing Del Potro rather comfortably in three sets. He lost the first set against Ferrer because they started in even worse conditions than those in the final and didn't even seem to try then. When they came back the next day he just dropped seven games. He definitely seemed to be in better form than Murray who struggled against Lopez, Cilic and at times Berdych and only showed a convincing performance against Raonic.

 

[tented]

Did Novak really play lights out on the way to the FO final in 2012? He lost to Nadal in 2 clay finals before that, and went to five sets twice at the FO (vs. Seppi and Tsonga). To be honest, I don't recall how he was playing prior to the US Open final that year but I think he got crushed by Federer at Cinci and he dropped a set to Ferrer in NY on his way to the final. He definitely wasn't playing lights out at the FO in 2013 (he had a poor clay season after Monte Carlo), and his NA hard court form was pretty shaky throughout. The only time I really remember Novak being absolutely lights out after 2011 was last fall.

As I said though, I'm not saying there's nothing mental about it. But I do think the narrative that he plays unbelievable leading up to majors and throughout them only to fall apart in the final is false.

Sure, it's not 100% mental. I didn't mean to imply that, although I may have through a kind of error of omission.

Obviously it's a complicated, multifaceted situation. On one hand, Novak has been playing solidly enough to be consistently making it to the later rounds of majors. That's not a coincidence, and the numbers are in black and white. On the other hand, he has lost an awful lot of the late-round matches to players he beats regularly enough in non-major events that the losses stand out.

Overall, I think he was outplayed by Nadal in last year's USO final, for example, so I'm not saying he was a mental midget, and Novak would have won otherwise, however it's pretty clear Djokovic checked out mentally in the fourth set, and didn't put up the fight he could have. Again, I'm not saying he would have won, but he did almost seem like he gave up.

Last year's Wimbledon final was more perplexing. It was the most anemic major final I can remember him playing. Yes, Murray is a better grass-court player, so I think he was going to win, but the way in which he won was striking: straight sets, no tiebreaks. And wasn't Novak up a break in each set? Yet got broken back, and broken again, to lose the sets. It just seemed very un-Djokovic like. When else has he lost a major final in straight sets?

Well, I hope I'm not adding to the Tennis Frontier Propaganda Machine too much, but I don't think we're the only ones who think there's a mental component to the number of losses at majors over the last few years.

 

[Iona16]

Match point was class but wish he'd stop with the Robert De Niro style pout.

"Are you talking to me?" :snigger

Better than someone else digging in the front and back of his trousers after every point...

or another guy carrying on a detailed and expletive laced conversation with himself while repeatedly forgetting which "injured" leg to grab after a lost point.

Is this tit for tat really necessary?

There are plenty of player quirks, habits etc that annoy me but I either accept them or I don't watch said player. I'm going to take the high road and ignore the digs at Murray, which for the record I think are very unfair.

Thanks Iona. My point was that they all have quirks that other fans find bothersome. I understand that the crowd wanted more tennis, and that maybe they'd rather see Murray play Jo or Marin instead of Novak. I just got done watching the third set and I can also understand why Novak made the face after match point.

I'll admit I didn't see the whole Djokovic v Tsonga match but I read that Novak seemed to have a bit of a problem with a particular section of the crowd. Is that correct? I can understand the crowd wanting to see more tennis and being quite vocal in their support of Tsonga. He is very popular with British crowds. From what I saw of the match the support seemed pretty even to me.

To be honest I've always thought Novak takes things a little too personally. He seems quite sensitive in that regard. There is a difference between respecting a player and loving him. I think he tries a little too hard sometimes. It seems to swing though. At times it appears he's trying to get the crowd onside and sometimes it seems he's telling them to shove it. If the crowd are for you then great but if they aren't then just embrace it.

Murray has been booed by the French crowd quite a few times. The President of the FFT once apologised to him for the behaviour of the crowd. Andy said they had paid their money and they could boo if they wanted to. If the crowd aren't for you then stuff them.

 

[Backhand_DTL]

Last year's Wimbledon final was more perplexing. It was the most anemic major final I can remember him playing. Yes, Murray is a better grass-court player, so I think he was going to win, but the way in which he won was striking: straight sets, no tiebreaks. And wasn't he up a break in each set?

Novak was up a break in the second and third set. I think a combination of his tough semi, hot conditions and basically no support from the crowd hindered him from ever really getting into the match or reaching the required energy level. In contrast to their Olympic match where both played at a quite good level, in my opinion Murray didn't even need to play great but just stay solid and wait for Novak's errors and wrong decisions.

I'll admit I didn't see the whole Djokovic v Tsonga match but I read that Novak seemed to have a bit of a problem with a particular section of the crowd. Is that correct? I can understand the crowd wanting to see more tennis and being quite vocal in their support of Tsonga. He is very popular with British crowds. From what I saw of the match the support seemed pretty even to me.

To be honest I've always thought Novak takes things a little too personally. He seems quite sensitive in that regard. There is a difference between respecting a player and loving him. I think he tries a little too hard sometimes. It seems to swing though. At times it appears he's trying to get the crowd onside and sometimes it seems he's telling them to shove it. If the crowd are for you then great but if they aren't then just embrace it.

Murray has been booed by the French crowd quite a few times. The President of the FFT once apologised to him for the behaviour of the crowd. Andy said they had paid their money and they could boo if they wanted to. If the crowd aren't for you then stuff them.

It seems the sensitivity toward this is rooted deeply inside Novak and I don't expect that to change in the near future. He is more or less OK when someone gets support because it's his homecrowd but otherwise he nearly always gets irritated if at some stage every point of his opponent is cheered loudly and the reactions to his points are rather reserved regardless of the score at that moment.

 

[nehmeth]

It seems the sensitivity toward this is rooted deeply inside Novak and I don't expect that to change in the near future. He is more or less OK when someone gets support because it's his homecrowd but otherwise he nearly always gets irritated if at some stage every point of his opponent is cheered loudly and the reactions to his points are rather reserved regardless of the score at that moment.

^^ This Iona.

Fans being fans, some of them are more vested in their guy facing a lesser opponent. They were cheering when Djokovic made an error and cheering on Tsonga. It is irritating, and it seems to turn a switch in Novak. He sets his face like stone, ups his game and then makes the "stank face" when he wins.

Personally, I like that posturing much better than when he slumps his shoulders and folds like a tent.