Surprising Support For Federer?

Just read this selection of "tweets" about the London crowd favoring Federer over Murray

Brad Gilbert
Huge 1st set from Fedfan he raised his level,i am bit surprised the crowd is at least 50-50 or slightly more for RF

Neil Harman
Because a lot of people in this country don't know a good thing when they see one

Julia Bertagna
Surrounded by 100s of English men screaming for Fed and jeering Murray, their GB Olympic Champion. Sad.

Vicky Wild
Erm, so Fed isn't good enough to be supported by GB people Neil is that what you're saying?!

Neil Harman
Not in the slightest. I just didn't hear enough British voices raised for their own man tonight. Muted by comparison

https://twitter.com/neilharmantimes

Is it surprising?

There were heck of a lot of Swiss flags about - I figured the people waving them were Swiss. It wasn't just an English crowd, surely?

Neil Harman is a complete t*t.

He's about as impartial an observer as that daft woman who wrote those articles about Nadal, but at least she doesn't write for The Times.

But were the people waving the Swiss flags British?

Federer is rampantly popular everywhere in the world, including the UK. He's probably the most well-supported player ever, no shame in not getting the crowd when you're against him. If I remember, it was about even at Wimbledon (Olympics should be discounted, fewer outright tennis fans there).

And when he plays like that, it's hard not to support Fed, in fairness.

It wasn't just that, the crowd booed Murray in the first set TB.

Unbelievable

I was surrounded by Federer fans.

There were lots of Swiss flags and Swiss football tops that I saw. But there was an undercurrent of disapproval towards Murray that I found disappointing. I mean, getting jeered in London? That's incredible.

In that sense I agree with Harman. It's fine to be a Fed fan, but the jeering of our Olympic champion disappointed me greatly. It was like 10,000 Hawkeye's were in the building!

Seriously, IMBL? I missed that. Why on earth did he get booed?

Also agree that jeering any one player can't be right. We're supposed to be a civilized bunch in the tennis world

I heard boos in the TB when he was changing his racket.

IMBL - you were there weren't you?

Why do you feel the crowd were against him? I mean, crowds all over the world are pro Federer, but I'm not wrong in sensing it wasn't just that. It seemed a bit against Murray, rather than just pro roger.

Why was he changing his racquet? If it was at a critical point the crowd might have seen it as deliberately disruptive. I still remember him choosing to change his wristband when break point down against Nadal in the US open semi's.

Yes I was there Danny

That was strange... At the start Murray got a massive cheer but Feds was even bigger.
So so many Swiss flags... were they Swiss living in Britain, or has they come from Basel? Not sure.

The Murray fans were outnumbered and not as loud as the Roger fans.

There were a people behind me who were English, I overheard 'Murray is annoying, Fed is class' etc.
I was supporting Murray, but I also like Roger, so I wasn't too loud either way.

The TB incident was incredible. Rather than supporting Murray when he needed it in the TB, they whistled, jeered, and booed Murray as he got a new racket. That really didn't help his cause.

hawkeye wrote:Why was he changing his racquet? If it was at a critical point the crowd might have seen it as deliberately disruptive. I still remember him choosing to change his wristband when break point down against Nadal in the US open semi's.

He had smashed his racket, it was out of shape.

If there was (significant) booing then it's not good. Can't imagine that happening at Wimbledon, whether involving Murray or any other Brit.

The 02 crowd has a very cosmopolitan profile of course and Federer perhaps enjoys more global popularity than any other player. But booing/jeeering is poor, no excuse for it.

I was at the 02 for a Federer/Murray RR match a couple of years back. Support was pretty split, perhaps marginally biased to Federer. But there was certainly no booing at any stage.

As for the racquet change .... did some sections of the crowd assume he had purposely damaged it ....??

He changed his racket on his own serve. Nothing wrong with that. If you do it on someone else's serve when you don't need to that's a bit naughty, but if ur serving its your rhythm. That's the rules, play to the pace of the server.

If I was Murray I'd be really confused, after the support he's had all week and at SW19 this summer. Disappointing. Perhaps if there were loads of Swiss in the house that explains it. Still not right though.

Glad you enjoyed it IMBL.

In terms of fans I feel it was:
60-40 to Roger

In terms if noise and support provided by fans I felt it was:
75-25 to Fed.

Ah.... I see now that he had smashed it.

Surely that explains the booing - in part at least ....???

But I still don't like it.

Danny_1982 wrote:He changed his racket on his own serve. Nothing wrong with that. If you do it on someone else's serve when you don't need to that's a bit naughty, but if ur serving its your rhythm. That's the rules, play to the pace of the server.

If I was Murray I'd be really confused, after the support he's had all week and at SW19 this summer. Disappointing. Perhaps if there were loads of Swiss in the house that explains it. Still not right though.

Glad you enjoyed it IMBL.

Well he had to change his racket, he had smashed it

I enjoyed it, the atmosphere was electric, but I would have preferred an Andy win.
There you go, stuff happens
Last time I went to see a tennis match it ended in a horrific nightmare, this wasn't as bad.

Well if he smashed his racquet there would be boos. There always are... no matter who does the smashing.

I can't think of any other occasion where the home number 1 player gets booed, irrelevant of what they do.

I'd have preferred a Murray win too, obviously. Mustn't be too greedy though, he's had an unbelievable breakthrough year and the only way is up for him.

Congrats to Roger, and I think he'll win tomorrow.

And I agree with IMBL, a home player being booed is incredible and I've never seen it before.

The cracking of a racquet to stimulate boo's and proFed support seems a little OTT, there must some other factor? General SE/London antithesis towards Scotland which an excuse like the racquet breaking tapped into and released?

lydian wrote:The cracking of a racquet to stimulate boo's and proFed support seems a little OTT, there must some other factor? General SE/London antithesis towards Scotland which an excuse like the racquet breaking tapped into and released?

I hoped we were past that after the summer. I feel a bit comfortable now that IMBL has confirmed there seemed to be loads of Swiss. I'd hate to think it was full of English against Murray.

Trivia fact of the day : Murray hasn't come back to beat Federer having lost the opening set for almost four years .... Doha 2009. So the key (as I'm sure Mr Lendl will no doubt be stressing) is to get your nose in front.

Back to those boos : Andy must be wondering just what he has to do to ensure a partisan crowd. Olympic Gold Medallist, first Brit to win a Slam for over 70 years ..... and still Federer gets most of the cheers.....

Yes that would be a shame for Andy given his PR star had seemed to rise after the Wimbledon tearful loss.

Tonight's jeers are mentioned here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/nov/11/andy-murray-roger-federer-02-arena

Well I heard the Boos in TV when Andy was switching racket, but I don't remember whether it was 1st set tiebreaker or 2nd set break point opportunity. They didn't show Andy breaking the racket, but they showed the racket had some cracks in it and hence Andy rightfully chose to change it, but unfortunately crowd thought he deliberately ploy to see his luck change and hence the boo I guess.

Fed was cheered to a great extent on his comeback 1st set, whats shocking was Crowd whistling on Andy's mistakes and net chords on crucial points, its ok if Fed gets cheered for an extra-ordinary shot but he got cheered for Andy's mistakes rather.

I am not sure it was Fed fans, for me it look like Andy haters in the crowd pretending themselves as Fed supporters. Let alone Federer even Ferrer would have got more support today than Andy.

In my view today's game was full of errors more than class acts, I see a B-game Federer beat a B-game Andy, so I had no clue what they were whistling , cheering and Booing for. I guess most forum members would agree with me if I say neither player played anywhere close to their best game today.

Generally, yes, though Federer's rallying in the 2nd set was pretty good. It wasn't a classic I'd agree.

It is no surprise the support Federer gets as he is the most popular player in the game.

I am not a fan of booing of any player. Yes it wasn't nice that Murray was booed, but hey the French do it

British crowds are usually very balanced and impartial, even if the mix of imported proportion is non-British.

Too many negative conclusions can be drawn and splitting of hairs.

There may perhaps be even more support for Federer in the final, if this is anything to go by.

Does any player deserve support by right or do they have to earn it?

Also as far as British support for Federer. During the Olympic Final there was the biggest anti Federer crowd I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

Back to Murray getting booed for smashing his racquet. I've read that some of the boos were directed at the umpire for failing to give Murray a warning.

hawkeye wrote:Does any player deserve support by right or do they have to earn it?

Also as far as British support for Federer. During the Olympic Final there was the biggest anti Federer crowd I have ever seen anywhere in the world.

Back to Murray getting booed for smashing his racquet. I've read that some of the boos were directed at the umpire for failing to give Murray a warning.

Well my position on patriotism is well advertisied on this forum, but it does come as a surprise -pleasant as it is -to me that so many go and judge what they see on the tennis rather than nationalistic allegience. Better not to boo though, that's not smart.

What is the surprise - this is what crowds do when tennis players (unforgiveably) smash their racquets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9X48FqmoJI? I don't care if I was watching the Dalai Lama playing Nelson Mandela, smashing a racquet is worth a boo in my view. Players derive their income from the spectacle they put on. When they act disrespectfully towards the sport and the crowd they are not entitled to respectful silence.

Federer has earned the massive support he gets worldwide, Andy is on the way there. I don't find anything surprising about what happened. I speak as a British Fed fan who now wants Murray to win their encounters on the basis that Fed has filled his boots.

barrystar wrote:What is the surprise - this is what crowds do when tennis players (unforgiveably) smash their racquets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9X48FqmoJI? I don't care if I was watching the Dalai Lama playing Nelson Mandela, smashing a racquet is worth a boo in my view. Players derive their income from the spectacle they put on. When they act disrespectfully towards the sport and the crowd they are not entitled to respectful silence.

Federer has earned the massive support he gets worldwide, Andy is on the way there. I don't find anything surprising about what happened. I speak as a British Fed fan who now wants Murray to win their encounters on the basis that Fed has filled his boots.

I hope he has bigger boots.

bogbrush wrote:

barrystar wrote:What is the surprise - this is what crowds do when tennis players (unforgiveably) smash their racquets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9X48FqmoJI? I don't care if I was watching the Dalai Lama playing Nelson Mandela, smashing a racquet is worth a boo in my view. Players derive their income from the spectacle they put on. When they act disrespectfully towards the sport and the crowd they are not entitled to respectful silence.

Federer has earned the massive support he gets worldwide, Andy is on the way there. I don't find anything surprising about what happened. I speak as a British Fed fan who now wants Murray to win their encounters on the basis that Fed has filled his boots.

I hope he has bigger boots.

Well me too - but I no longer want to see him filling them at Murray's expense.

HE - note what you said about the Olympics crowd, but what surprised me was the muted support for Fed when he beat Murray at the "real" Wimbledon earlier in the summer.
I expected the crowd to be more Murray than Fed in that first final but didn't expect Fed to have so little support or even so little polite applause from time to time.
Probably what happened was that the Swiss couldn't get many tickets for the Wimbledon GS final but turned up in droves at the O2 last night.

Booing is terrible and inexcusable.

Murray's f-ings and blindings on court will not have endeared him to an international crowd and it is an international crowd every year at the O2, still not polite in Murray's back yard, but he needs to clean up his own act imo - I really thought he had after exemplary conduct and maturity at Olympics and US.

Not a shock that Fed had support after winning FF award with nearly 60% of vote, but very disappointing for Murray that the O2 roof wasn't resounding with support for a British gold medallist.

From the TV I would say it was 60-40 Fed. My picture kept freezing in the tiebreak and I was able to use the cheer volume to guess who won the point.

PS What a lame comment from Vicky Wild.

time please wrote:Booing is terrible and inexcusable.

Murray's f-ings and blindings on court will not have endeared him to an international crowd and it is an international crowd every year at the O2, still not polite in Murray's back yard, but he needs to clean up his own act imo - I really thought he had after exemplary conduct and maturity at Olympics and US.

Not a shock that Fed had support after winning FF award with nearly 60% of vote, but very disappointing for Murray that the O2 roof wasn't resounding with support for a British gold medallist.

I agree about the booing. Particularly in an individual sport like tennis. The crowd is huge and powerful and players can look small and vulnerable when the whole crowd is against them. In Davis cup they have the support of a captain and team mates but when a player is alone out there it must feel very uncomfortable. In fact I confess there have been a few matches I've been unable to watch because of the ugliness of the crowd. The match that stands out in a bad way for me was that Gasquet Murray match at Wimbledon a few years ago. It left a bad taste. This years Olympic final also made for uncomfortable viewing. Oh and Nadal being booed off the court at RG in his loss to Soderling. Personally when watching live tennis I applaud good shots whoever makes them and whatever my personal bias in favorite players. I also tend to applaud the good shots of whatever player is getting the least support the most... Despite my tough talk I'm far more soft in real life...

As far as Murray's on court behavior goes I'm not convinced of any change. He WON the Olympics and the US so of course he had less course for petulance. IMO he will never change as it's his personality. As I've (perhaps...?) said before personally I find it very unattractive. It is unattractive! Murray may be able to rely on nationalistic support but I doubt he'll ever be able to rely on "honorary" Scots supporters in the same way that Federer and Nadal manage to get non Swiss and Spanish fans to wave the Swiss and Spanish flags.

hawkeye wrote:

time please wrote:Booing is terrible and inexcusable.

Murray's f-ings and blindings on court will not have endeared him to an international crowd and it is an international crowd every year at the O2, still not polite in Murray's back yard, but he needs to clean up his own act imo - I really thought he had after exemplary conduct and maturity at Olympics and US.

Not a shock that Fed had support after winning FF award with nearly 60% of vote, but very disappointing for Murray that the O2 roof wasn't resounding with support for a British gold medallist.

I agree about the booing. Particularly in an individual sport like tennis. The crowd is huge and powerful and players can look small and vulnerable when the whole crowd is against them. In Davis cup they have the support of a captain and team mates but when a player is alone out there it must feel very uncomfortable. In fact I confess there have been a few matches I've been unable to watch because of the ugliness of the crowd. The match that stands out in a bad way for me was that Gasquet Murray match at Wimbledon a few years ago. It left a bad taste. This years Olympic final also made for uncomfortable viewing. Oh and Nadal being booed off the court at RG in his loss to Soderling. Personally when watching live tennis I applaud good shots whoever makes them and whatever my personal bias in favorite players. I also tend to applaud the good shots of whatever player is getting the least support the most... Despite my tough talk I'm far more soft in real life...

As far as Murray's on court behavior goes I'm not convinced of any change. He WON the Olympics and the US so of course he had less course for petulance. IMO he will never change as it's his personality. As I've (perhaps...?) said before personally I find it very unattractive. It is unattractive! Murray may be able to rely on nationalistic support but I doubt he'll ever be able to rely on "honorary" Scots supporters in the same way that Federer and Nadal manage to get non Swiss and Spanish fans to wave the Swiss and Spanish flags.

I do actually agree HE. I don't think his on-court behaviour has changed much. I recall in the first set when Federer made a BH pass down the line and the camera's managed to get a close up of Andy effing and blinding when most may have tapped their racquet at such a shot.

As I say booing is unacceptable. I have seen Rafa on the end of it at the FO and it was dis-tasteful to say the least. I recall Roddick being booed in 2004 when he played Greg and there was that bust up between Greg and the umpire. Even though some of the booing was aimed at the umpire, I felt the booing during Roddick winning points was totally disgraceful.

hawkeye wrote:I also tend to applaud the good shots of whatever player is getting the least support the most...

Murray would have been grateful for your support last night

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:I also tend to applaud the good shots of whatever player is getting the least support the most...

Murray would have been grateful for your support last night

What! He did a good shot? When?.... Ha ha.

hawkeye wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:I also tend to applaud the good shots of whatever player is getting the least support the most...

Murray would have been grateful for your support last night

What! He did a good shot? When?.... Ha ha.

I saw that coming! Never let it be said I don't provide a good straight line.

Murray Nation will go wild with their Serbian apparel tonight in the bid for redemption.