Novak Puts On A Show

I managed to watch a little of the Djokovic Murray exhibition match yesterday and was very impressed with Djokovics professionalism. He looked immaculate in his new crisp Wimbledon whites and knew exactly what was expected from him in exchange for a hefty appearance fee. Of course everyone knew it wasn't the French Open final and he wasn't expected to leave everything on the court but people wanted to witness someone that resembled the number one player in the world. He looked relaxed but ran about for important points and even threw in the odd spectacular shot. Djokovic also chatted to the ball girls and helped out the groundstaff drying the court. The crowd lapped it up as these "tweets" yesterday show.

Mike Lee

Saw Djokovic easily beat Murray 6.4 6.4 at Boodles today. Ominous. Novak also had the crowd - personality, prowess and humour! Andy??

Neil Harman

Shame to have missed you Mike. You are right about Novak. He had the crowd eating out of his hands. It is not too difficult

https://twitter.com/#!/neilharmantimes

Djokovic is a credit to the sport. As far as "putting on a show" he is second to none (including Roger and Rafa). But it wasn't just the crowd who would have got something from Djokovics performance. Djokovic must have left feeling pretty good himself.

In contast Murray has a lot to learn. I'm not talking about tennis skills but professional attitude. He made it clear to everone watching that he wasn't putting in effort. He didn't even bring his kit.

Andy Murray had to play against Novak Djokovic at The Boodles in a borrowed shirt after he neglected to bring his own

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/21/andy-murray-novak-djokovic-boodles?newsfeed=true

So what was he expecting to do in exchange for an appearance fee that was probably more than some people earn in a year? Rather than be critical I would like to offer Andy some advice. He should look no further than his friend and opponant yesterday if he wants an example of the sort of professional behaviour that he should try and emulate. IMO it is this that has helped Djokovic achieve his success.

I would also advise any young player to look at how Djokovic goes about his business.

Murray was playing in a body-warmer. Thought the bloody scots are meant to be Bravehearts?!?

Another dig at Murray I see Hawkeye? I prefer to be more measured in my criticisms and in no way would I dare offer "advice" to Andy Murray

However, amongst all that you may have made a valid point in terms of professionalism.

It's this appearance fee thing that gets me going a bit. When you get paid prize money and on top of that a sum of cash just for bloody showing up then you should be a lot more gracious than Murray appears to be. I didn't see any Boodles but I'm aware that Murray has pulled out of tournaments like Marseille at very short notice in the past where he would have been offered a walloping fee for just taking part that would have likely been more than the winners cheque he would have recieved if victorious.

The lesser players as far as I'm aware don;t get any cash for showing up and I think these appearance fees ought to be scrapped. Either that or at least have the decency to engage with the audience and display more positive body language than what Murray does. It's not on!

You do know that if these events didn't appreciate Andy Murray's appearance at the event, they wouldn't pay.

Andy is under no obligation to do anything other than play a tennis match. You can't hold it against him for having a different personality to Novak.

Guys like Rafa and Andy are just different characters to say Djokovic and Roddick - surely if Murray started clowning around during exhibitions it would just look forced and fake.

Lots of conflicting thoughts there SDB. Did you read the Guardian article attached ? Yes I agree it was a bit stupid/unprofessional of him to turn up without a tennis shirt. However the picture in the article shows him with a smile on his face and article reads as if it was a game played the way an exhibition match should be.

Don't quite get your point on Marsielle. If not in the right nick physically or mentally is it better not to turn up and therefore lose an agreed appearance fee or to turn up take the fee and tank out in the first round.

Not keen on appearance fees for tournaments myself but it seems to be a way to get bigger name players to pick certain tournaments (e.g Queens or Halle) and there get better attendances.

Exhibition events are just that. No idea what they paid Murray or Djokovic to play at The Boodles. However we know that if Murray gone further at Queens he would not have played in The Boodles so in his case I woludn't think it was a huge sum.

Calder106 wrote:No idea what they paid Murray or Djokovic to play at The Boodles. However we know that if Murray gone further at Queens he would not have played in The Boodles so in his case I woludn't think it was a huge sum.

I'm sure your not saying that Murray wasn't paid enough to act in a more professional manner. Are you?

Calder106 wrote:Lots of conflicting thoughts there SDB. Did you read the Guardian article attached ? Yes I agree it was a bit stupid/unprofessional of him to turn up without a tennis shirt. However the picture in the article shows him with a smile on his face and article reads as if it was a game played the way an exhibition match should be.

Don't quite get your point on Marsielle. If not in the right nick physically or mentally is it better not to turn up and therefore lose an agreed appearance fee or to turn up take the fee and tank out in the first round.

Not keen on appearance fees for tournaments myself but it seems to be a way to get bigger name players to pick certain tournaments (e.g Queens or Halle) and there get better attendances.

Exhibition events are just that. No idea what they paid Murray or Djokovic to play at The Boodles. However we know that if Murray gone further at Queens he would not have played in The Boodles so in his case I woludn't think it was a huge sum.

Yeah I read the article afterwards and have since learned not to trust Hawkeye's very one-eyed opinion on Murray and read around the subject!

My point on Marseille stands though. I'm sure it was about twice or three times he pulled out at short short notice. As for Murray's general demeanour I'm sure he would lighten up if he got the elusive slam.

I presume Boodles have released a statement expressing their utter horror that Andy forgot a suitable T-shirt.

Surely if you're this upset about it, they must be in bits.