The Confusion Of Liking A Player
+2
lydian
Chazfazzer
6 posters
The v2 Forum :: Sport :: Tennis
Page 1 of 1
The Confusion Of Liking A Player
You often hear comments such as "I like the way he plays" or "He's always moaning on court" reasons we like players and reasons we don't. Sometimes there is a confusion.
I bring the case of Agassi and Sampras. Sampras was almost the image of evil because of his success on court and yet people felt more inclined to like Agassi and my mum even used to go as far as 'Well he has more personality than Sampras' more personality? Or more of a lack of focus on court which prevents him from winning. The whole 'Image is everything' In his book Agassi went as far as to seek out a 'feud' with the rivalry to give it edge and to even try and score a point before they even met on court. See people liked the Agassi style of play. Not big serves and constant volleying, but someone that draws out points. Still I say did Agassi's play match his personality? Were people drawn to Agassi because of the image and his play? See Sampras never said much off court and it almost came across that Agassi disliked Sampras for the success he gained and the fact he didn't put himself out there in the public eye. Even when he lost his coach, he was able to handle the whole situation superbly and still win on the court that year.
I used to love Becker. When he was young and was diving about the court, it almost brought tennis back to the roots and level that people like me felt they could play. Yet roll on the 90's and he became a bit of a w**ker in my eyes. The negativity he displayed. The constant moaning of preferential treatment other players got. The moaning about sponsors. It seemed like the guy I idolised as a person and player was not what I saw on court. I didn't even butter an eyelid when he won the Australian Open in 1996. I had moved my alligence and saved it for someone more deserving.
Take today's players. Take Federer. Tennis I aside I warm to him. There is a likeability about him. I like the fact that despite the rewards a successful tennis career brings you feel the sense that he takes the responsibility of being the leader of the sport. Trying to incorporate fairness to players and fans and always is quick to speak and act when tragedy strikes. Who could forget Hit for Haiti. Australian floods. When he spoke, the tennis world listened and he is always willing to pay respect to the players of the past and present and future. Take Nadal. People dislike his play. Dislike his 'tactics' and as a result dislike the guy. I myself like Rafa. He has a vulnerability about him. Yet this is a guy that writes to the ball girls and boys of every Slam to thank them. Rafa for me is a nice guy. Respectful of his fellow players. Yes sometimes his comments can cause controversy, but he is a lovely guy. Whenever me and my nephew have seen him play, he has always granted my nephew an autograph. He does love the fans and always gives them more than enough of his time.
Take Djokovic. He really does enjoy the game. Whenever he plays Nadal or Federer, you get those moments when he lost a rally/point or won one against them and then pays respect to them and even cracks a smile because I feel he enjoys playing them. They are his peers. You feel he treats as a pleasure in playing them. He isn't so much the "Djoker" but for me someone with a big personality on court.
Take Murray. Anyone but England, I hate him now. He always moans and mopes. Self harm on court. Far too many 'come on's' however anyone who has followed him can remember the pranks and bets him and his team used to do when they were training at events. See he does have a sense of humour. Because he is not like that on court and is more focused, it is seen he is a grumpy whingebag! It seems his sense of humour is evident off court.
So I wonder, do we get just a bit confused with what players display on court compared to how they are off it and get our wires crossed when 'liking a player'?
I bring the case of Agassi and Sampras. Sampras was almost the image of evil because of his success on court and yet people felt more inclined to like Agassi and my mum even used to go as far as 'Well he has more personality than Sampras' more personality? Or more of a lack of focus on court which prevents him from winning. The whole 'Image is everything' In his book Agassi went as far as to seek out a 'feud' with the rivalry to give it edge and to even try and score a point before they even met on court. See people liked the Agassi style of play. Not big serves and constant volleying, but someone that draws out points. Still I say did Agassi's play match his personality? Were people drawn to Agassi because of the image and his play? See Sampras never said much off court and it almost came across that Agassi disliked Sampras for the success he gained and the fact he didn't put himself out there in the public eye. Even when he lost his coach, he was able to handle the whole situation superbly and still win on the court that year.
I used to love Becker. When he was young and was diving about the court, it almost brought tennis back to the roots and level that people like me felt they could play. Yet roll on the 90's and he became a bit of a w**ker in my eyes. The negativity he displayed. The constant moaning of preferential treatment other players got. The moaning about sponsors. It seemed like the guy I idolised as a person and player was not what I saw on court. I didn't even butter an eyelid when he won the Australian Open in 1996. I had moved my alligence and saved it for someone more deserving.
Take today's players. Take Federer. Tennis I aside I warm to him. There is a likeability about him. I like the fact that despite the rewards a successful tennis career brings you feel the sense that he takes the responsibility of being the leader of the sport. Trying to incorporate fairness to players and fans and always is quick to speak and act when tragedy strikes. Who could forget Hit for Haiti. Australian floods. When he spoke, the tennis world listened and he is always willing to pay respect to the players of the past and present and future. Take Nadal. People dislike his play. Dislike his 'tactics' and as a result dislike the guy. I myself like Rafa. He has a vulnerability about him. Yet this is a guy that writes to the ball girls and boys of every Slam to thank them. Rafa for me is a nice guy. Respectful of his fellow players. Yes sometimes his comments can cause controversy, but he is a lovely guy. Whenever me and my nephew have seen him play, he has always granted my nephew an autograph. He does love the fans and always gives them more than enough of his time.
Take Djokovic. He really does enjoy the game. Whenever he plays Nadal or Federer, you get those moments when he lost a rally/point or won one against them and then pays respect to them and even cracks a smile because I feel he enjoys playing them. They are his peers. You feel he treats as a pleasure in playing them. He isn't so much the "Djoker" but for me someone with a big personality on court.
Take Murray. Anyone but England, I hate him now. He always moans and mopes. Self harm on court. Far too many 'come on's' however anyone who has followed him can remember the pranks and bets him and his team used to do when they were training at events. See he does have a sense of humour. Because he is not like that on court and is more focused, it is seen he is a grumpy whingebag! It seems his sense of humour is evident off court.
So I wonder, do we get just a bit confused with what players display on court compared to how they are off it and get our wires crossed when 'liking a player'?
Guest- Guest
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
I'm not sure I see your point here - it seems you've just described how 90% of the tennis-following community feels about these players. Djokovic is a joker, Murray mopes around...these aren't really groundbreaking observations.
I think when people say they 'like' a player they are talking mainly about their games. I like Federer and Nalbandian, even though I know that at times Federer can be a bit of an arrogant, smarmy git, and Nalbandian didn't exactly cover himself in glory at Queens with his speech after wounding the line judge. I like them because I like watching them play the best. We can't get even close to knowing what they're actually like as people. Most of what they show to the media is most likely a facade.
I think when people say they 'like' a player they are talking mainly about their games. I like Federer and Nalbandian, even though I know that at times Federer can be a bit of an arrogant, smarmy git, and Nalbandian didn't exactly cover himself in glory at Queens with his speech after wounding the line judge. I like them because I like watching them play the best. We can't get even close to knowing what they're actually like as people. Most of what they show to the media is most likely a facade.
Chazfazzer- Posts : 359
Join date : 2011-06-02
Location : London
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
The point is the difference of liking a player for their skills or simply liking them for their personalities and that sometimes these things can get confused with each other.
Guest- Guest
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
Guess it depends on whether we're talking about being a fan here where you follow what the player is up to off-season, perhaps visit thir official site for news, etc...vs liking the way someone plays. Perhaps the question is what makes a 'fan' and why do we follow certain players beyond watching them on-court. For example with Murray I have zero interest in him outside of when he's playing...I don't google his name and click 'news'. I also don't care much for the way he plays the game...so I don't personally get confused with their on/off court persona's...but usually it's their on-court persona that encourages people to find out about the off-court one. Don't think there are too many guys with very different on/off court persona's. Courier is perhaps one though...a very interesting guy who appeared to be bit of a Rottweiler on court.
lydian- Posts : 9178
Join date : 2011-04-30
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
I am sad enough to admit I have ATP news feed set up on my desktop on my laptop
Guest- Guest
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
Aspects of personality are always going to come in to liking a player. For example I remember back in 2005 admiring Murrays sheer bloody mindedness. After his struggles at Queens and Wimbledon with conditioning he Qualified for US open at first attempt and won a tough five setter despite throwing up on court twice. I admired his determination to carry on and improve - I still do.
I agree that soundbites of aspects of personality can be misleading. My views on Federer have softened over the years. Sadly I allowed his occasional smugness, the 15 jacket and the overbearing smugness of some of his fairweather fans (none of whom are on here) to influence my opinion of him. I always admired his tennis (obviously), I just didn't like him. I have since refined my opinion and realised that a lot of the things I didn't like about him were media creations. I quite like him now and admire how he acts for the tour in his leadership role and the high profile charity work he does (the jacket was still tacky though).
I agree that soundbites of aspects of personality can be misleading. My views on Federer have softened over the years. Sadly I allowed his occasional smugness, the 15 jacket and the overbearing smugness of some of his fairweather fans (none of whom are on here) to influence my opinion of him. I always admired his tennis (obviously), I just didn't like him. I have since refined my opinion and realised that a lot of the things I didn't like about him were media creations. I quite like him now and admire how he acts for the tour in his leadership role and the high profile charity work he does (the jacket was still tacky though).
carrieg4- Posts : 1829
Join date : 2011-06-22
Location : South of England
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
Interesting article LK. I like Murray for his talent and his intense desire to win and be a grand slam champion. I also like him because he's British.
I find it amusing that people say he has no personality. How on earth can we judge that? We don't know him. All we see is how he conducts himself to our media in interviews... He has clearly decided not to open himself up to our media, and who can blame him after how they ambushed him earlier in his career?
He is apparently a great lad according to those who know him and have got past the walls he puts up, but even if he wasn't I would still support him for his dedication and drive to succeed. After the 2010 AO final he said "thanks for all the support from back home, and sorry I couldn't win it for you"... That says all I need to know about the man.
The other top 3 are far more open and let the media see who they really are a bit more... But then they are not British, and don't have to deal with our gutter press on a daily basis.
I find it amusing that people say he has no personality. How on earth can we judge that? We don't know him. All we see is how he conducts himself to our media in interviews... He has clearly decided not to open himself up to our media, and who can blame him after how they ambushed him earlier in his career?
He is apparently a great lad according to those who know him and have got past the walls he puts up, but even if he wasn't I would still support him for his dedication and drive to succeed. After the 2010 AO final he said "thanks for all the support from back home, and sorry I couldn't win it for you"... That says all I need to know about the man.
The other top 3 are far more open and let the media see who they really are a bit more... But then they are not British, and don't have to deal with our gutter press on a daily basis.
Danny_1982- Posts : 3233
Join date : 2011-06-01
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
Danny_1982 wrote:Interesting article LK. I like Murray for his talent and his intense desire to win and be a grand slam champion. I also like him because he's British.
I find it amusing that people say he has no personality. How on earth can we judge that? We don't know him. All we see is how he conducts himself to our media in interviews... He has clearly decided not to open himself up to our media, and who can blame him after how they ambushed him earlier in his career?
He is apparently a great lad according to those who know him and have got past the walls he puts up, but even if he wasn't I would still support him for his dedication and drive to succeed. After the 2010 AO final he said "thanks for all the support from back home, and sorry I couldn't win it for you"... That says all I need to know about the man.
The other top 3 are far more open and let the media see who they really are a bit more... But then they are not British, and don't have to deal with our gutter press on a daily basis.
Was just reading how Andy Murray asked Neil Harman if he had ever hacked a phone
carrieg4- Posts : 1829
Join date : 2011-06-22
Location : South of England
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
For me it's a hierachy:
a. How they play and conduct themselves on Court is 80-90% of it
b. How they conduct themselves in the tennis context - including their behaviour towards tennis fans, whether they act for the benefit of tennis and whether they seem to use their tennis stardom and influence to do a little bit of good outside
c. Of course, I like to see Brits do well, but not like some.
d. What they are like away from tennis, whether they are nice to animals or happily married is pretty irrelevant to me unless there is unambiguous evidence of saintliness or evil - and that's not exactly very likely.
I think Fed scores very highly on a.&b., Djoko very high on a. - I don't know enough about him off the court for b. but was impressed by his respect for being No. 1. Nadal scores low for me on a. and is mixed on b.. Murray is pretty high on a. because of his sheer variety and, for me, unpredictability - I don't know much about his wider tennis conduct for b. - and he's a Brit into the bargain so I support him against anyone else (including even Fed now that Fed has had his great Wimbledon win).
a. How they play and conduct themselves on Court is 80-90% of it
b. How they conduct themselves in the tennis context - including their behaviour towards tennis fans, whether they act for the benefit of tennis and whether they seem to use their tennis stardom and influence to do a little bit of good outside
c. Of course, I like to see Brits do well, but not like some.
d. What they are like away from tennis, whether they are nice to animals or happily married is pretty irrelevant to me unless there is unambiguous evidence of saintliness or evil - and that's not exactly very likely.
I think Fed scores very highly on a.&b., Djoko very high on a. - I don't know enough about him off the court for b. but was impressed by his respect for being No. 1. Nadal scores low for me on a. and is mixed on b.. Murray is pretty high on a. because of his sheer variety and, for me, unpredictability - I don't know much about his wider tennis conduct for b. - and he's a Brit into the bargain so I support him against anyone else (including even Fed now that Fed has had his great Wimbledon win).
barrystar- Posts : 2960
Join date : 2011-06-03
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
Any male sports person who wears a diamond stud in one or both ears I take an immediate dislike to. It has happened in football, athletics and motor racing. Fortunately it has yet to appear in tennis.
Guest- Guest
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
You can like or admire a player based on their play or how effectively they seem to interact with their various audiences but I'm not sure that I want to have dinner with any of them.
Tennis is an adversarial sport and the best players are hugely competitive so I'm not altogether convinced that they would be great company away from the tennis court.
Tennis is an adversarial sport and the best players are hugely competitive so I'm not altogether convinced that they would be great company away from the tennis court.
Turron- Posts : 100
Join date : 2012-07-11
Re: The Confusion Of Liking A Player
Turron wrote:You can like or admire a player based on their play or how effectively they seem to interact with their various audiences but I'm not sure that I want to have dinner with any of them.
Tennis is an adversarial sport and the best players are hugely competitive so I'm not altogether convinced that they would be great company away from the tennis court.
I fully agree. They are all, by necessity, extremely intense and driven people. Not exactly relaxing company.
carrieg4- Posts : 1829
Join date : 2011-06-22
Location : South of England
Similar topics
» Rugby players liking football , do you ?
» Confusion in the Nadal Camp
» confusion over release rules
» 2019 WC Venue confusion
» Usman Khwaja b. DRS
» Confusion in the Nadal Camp
» confusion over release rules
» 2019 WC Venue confusion
» Usman Khwaja b. DRS
The v2 Forum :: Sport :: Tennis
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum