Nadal has more fans now - Confirmed

For the first time in history this year Nadal's fan base as gone above Roger Federer.

Nadal who was lagging behind Roger by few hundred thousands last year is now leading fan counts by a few hundred thousands.

As of Aug 29th 2014, Facebooks likes are as follows

1]Rafa Nadal -14,586,067
2]Roger Federer -14,485,122
3]Novak Djokovic - 5,194,729
4]Andy Murray - 2,804,336
5]Del Potro - 1,608,837
6]Jo WilFred Tsonga - 649,313

rest are way behind.

Congrats Rafa for getting the biggest fan base of all Tennis players.

I am not sure if Facebook should be the absolute judge of everything. I propose we add Facebook likes to the amount of retweets they have plus fan mail count and decibel count the next time they come on court, that should be pretty definitive.

I remember Truffin mentioning their respective merchandise sales. WOuld be interesting to see the results there.

I think the number of hardcore fans - the type that really care and are upset when the player loses and really, really want him to win could be higher for Nadal. But I think if you add in casual admirers I think Federer would have more. Certainly, he seems to lead in crowd support around the world.

The second category I might call not fans but "appreciators".

Everything Nadal fans ever wanted, now they can sleep happy, why do they need a proper job when they can fangirl Nadal?

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Everything Nadal fans ever wanted, now they can sleep happy, why do they need a proper job when they can fangirl Nadal?

OBJECTION sexist comment JM

I guess what's more striking than anything from the list quoted by IC is the size of the gap between the top two and then everyone else from number 3 downwards. It really is a case of Fedal, plus the also-rans.

But then this is FB we're talking about. I somehow doubt that Djokovic, Murray or any of the others will be losing sleep ....

I'm not on Facebook, but aren't likes just a response to content posted? In which case, if you post more, you get more likes?

So is that 14 million different fans or could it be a million fans who have 'liked' 14 times?

Nadal the FB GOAT.

I guess people feel bad for his injury and want to help with a Like.

Judging fan base by likes is like judging metabolic rate by turd length.

South park fan Lydian?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AcbPCMMoN0

No you can only like something once Murdoch.

Murdoch - No on Facebook, you can only like a status once. But you can like more than one fanpage. So one person can like fifty fan page, but one can't like one fan page fifty times. Nadal Federer is pretty close, and with some people having multi accounts, it could even be the other way round. Day light between the big two and the rest though. Daylight between Ronaldo, Messi and these two though.

Henman Bill wrote:I think the number of hardcore fans - the type that really care and are upset when the player loses and really, really want him to win could be higher for Nadal. But I think if you add in casual admirers I think Federer would have more. Certainly, he seems to lead in crowd support around the world.

The second category I might call not fans but "appreciators".

Always difficult to quantify precisely any variation in levels of 'crowd support'. Decibel meter readings ....?? An exact count of seat occupancy ratio per match ...? (hmm....certain complications there when they play each other .... )

But it IS true that we hear constant reference by pundits, commentators and by tournament organisers as regards the Federer effect at stadia around the world. And sometimes by players too. This from the BBC website listing 'Quotes of the Day' from yesterday's USO proceedings :

" I was trying not to get caught up in the whole Roger act out there. You walk out, you get a few cheers. He walks out and the crowd goes ballistic." Sam Groth on facing five-time champion Roger Federer.

I suspect a lot of Federer's older fans don't bother with facebook. We all know Nadal only has female fans and a bunch of kids - facebook demographic right there.

Judging by reception and crowd support Federer is numero uno by a long distance.

On Twitter, Federer is behind both Nadal AND Djokovic in followers.

I don't read much into it. Federer is still the most popular player by some distance.

Haddie-nuff wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Everything Nadal fans ever wanted, now they can sleep happy, why do they need a proper job when they can fangirl Nadal?

OBJECTION  sexist comment JM

Excellent analysis as always HN, are you his facebook follower?

the twitter one does come with the caveat the Federer joined a lot later, joined about a year ago..Probably my verified favorite tennis account.

On a separate note. I think you can read quite a bit into social media imprint. 1 in ten Facebook accounts follow Cristiano Ronaldo. Which is probably a fair representation of his popularity. I'd definitely go with Federer being more popular than his social media suggests, but it does take a leap to suggest all federer fans are off Facebook, and only fangirls and kids follow Nadal.... but I have come to expect such lowest common denominator stuff around here.

It's not such a surprise that there is hardly a hairs breadth between them in terms of facebook fans. They are the same weight, height, wear the same clothes and headband, play with the same controlled game face and will leave the game with a similar number of slam titles. I reckon it would be fun if they ended with exactly the same number of slams. Maybe in the future it will be difficult to tell them apart. Wasn't it Federer who liked to place his water bottles carefully and did Rafa end up with two sets of twins

kingraf wrote:but it does take a leap to suggest all federer fans are off Facebook, and only fangirls and kids follow Nadal.... but I have come to expect such lowest common denominator stuff around here.

However they do tend to attract different sorts of fans... There is a vocal minority of Federer fan's who are so worried about their favorite and so threatened by his biggest rival Nadal that they feel obliged to dismiss anything to do with him. His game, his titles, his interviews, his ability with languages, his habits and even his fans. But, but, but, but..... please make him go away

Don't worry bout that Hawk cause he will be going away hiding when he isn't able to defend as much. Won't fight it out like Fed did with his injuries

hawkeye wrote:It's not such a surprise that there is hardly a hairs breadth between them in terms of facebook fans. They are the same weight, height, wear the same clothes and headband, play with the same controlled game face and will leave the game with a similar number of slam titles. I reckon it would be fun if they ended with exactly the same number of slams. Maybe in the future it will be difficult to tell them apart. Wasn't it Federer who liked to place his water bottles carefully and did Rafa end up with two sets of twins

kingraf wrote:but it does take a leap to suggest all federer fans are off Facebook, and only fangirls and kids follow Nadal.... but I have come to expect such lowest common denominator stuff around here.

However they do tend to attract different sorts of fans... There is a vocal minority of Federer fan's who are so worried about their favorite and so threatened by his biggest rival Nadal that they feel obliged to dismiss anything to do with him. His game, his titles, his interviews, his ability with languages, his habits and even his fans. But, but, but, but..... please make him go away

True - those fans are a bit loopy. They remind of some Rafa fans in their almost obsessive devotion. Do they remind you of anyone hawkeye?

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:It's not such a surprise that there is hardly a hairs breadth between them in terms of facebook fans. They are the same weight, height, wear the same clothes and headband, play with the same controlled game face and will leave the game with a similar number of slam titles. I reckon it would be fun if they ended with exactly the same number of slams. Maybe in the future it will be difficult to tell them apart. Wasn't it Federer who liked to place his water bottles carefully and did Rafa end up with two sets of twins

kingraf wrote:but it does take a leap to suggest all federer fans are off Facebook, and only fangirls and kids follow Nadal.... but I have come to expect such lowest common denominator stuff around here.

However they do tend to attract different sorts of fans... There is a vocal minority of Federer fan's who are so worried about their favorite and so threatened by his biggest rival Nadal that they feel obliged to dismiss anything to do with him. His game, his titles, his interviews, his ability with languages, his habits and even his fans. But, but, but, but..... please make him go away

True - those fans are a bit loopy. They remind of some Rafa fans in their almost obsessive devotion. Do they remind you of anyone hawkeye?

Nah! It tends to be Federer fans who dismiss Nadal and not the other way round.  See exhibit A... a perfect example posted seconds after my description  

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Don't worry bout that Hawk cause he will be going away hiding when he isn't able to defend as much. Won't fight it out like Fed did with his injuries

The worst you get from a Nadal fan is perhaps calling Fed "smug" which he is perfectly entitled to be  

hawkeye wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:It's not such a surprise that there is hardly a hairs breadth between them in terms of facebook fans. They are the same weight, height, wear the same clothes and headband, play with the same controlled game face and will leave the game with a similar number of slam titles. I reckon it would be fun if they ended with exactly the same number of slams. Maybe in the future it will be difficult to tell them apart. Wasn't it Federer who liked to place his water bottles carefully and did Rafa end up with two sets of twins

kingraf wrote:but it does take a leap to suggest all federer fans are off Facebook, and only fangirls and kids follow Nadal.... but I have come to expect such lowest common denominator stuff around here.

However they do tend to attract different sorts of fans... There is a vocal minority of Federer fan's who are so worried about their favorite and so threatened by his biggest rival Nadal that they feel obliged to dismiss anything to do with him. His game, his titles, his interviews, his ability with languages, his habits and even his fans. But, but, but, but..... please make him go away

True - those fans are a bit loopy. They remind of some Rafa fans in their almost obsessive devotion. Do they remind you of anyone hawkeye?

Nah! It tends to be Federer fans who dismiss Nadal and not the other way round.  See exhibit A... a perfect example posted seconds after my description  

Maybe, but it tends to be some Rafa fans who go on and on and on about if this and if that, as though they have an alternate universe they need to live in - they seem to be so insecure in their hero's achievements for some bizarre reason

Those types of Fed/Rafa fans are very much mirror images of each other.

Yes, I think Djoko fans are most well behaved here, as he has a total of 2 fans here, 1 of them a Masterclass of how a fan should be.

Respect for HM Master

Ditto.

hawkeye wrote:

...............................................

The worst you get from a Nadal fan is perhaps calling Fed "smug" which he is perfectly entitled to be  

Really ? I doubt you actually believe that hawkeye  - but if you do, I'd say you're seriously deluded.

Check out inane reader comments some time on the ATP website FB pages (pre/post match 'discussions')

You'll see stuff there from the other camp too of course, and as JHM said above, the worst of them (many seemingly without any formal education since around the age of 8 IMO... ) tend to mirror each other.

Jahu wrote:Yes, I think Djoko fans are most well behaved here, as he has a total of 2 fans here, 1 of them a Masterclass of how a fan should be.

Respect for HM Master  

I'm actually rather touched by this!

Thank you.

hawkeye wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:It's not such a surprise that there is hardly a hairs breadth between them in terms of facebook fans. They are the same weight, height, wear the same clothes and headband, play with the same controlled game face and will leave the game with a similar number of slam titles. I reckon it would be fun if they ended with exactly the same number of slams. Maybe in the future it will be difficult to tell them apart. Wasn't it Federer who liked to place his water bottles carefully and did Rafa end up with two sets of twins

kingraf wrote:but it does take a leap to suggest all federer fans are off Facebook, and only fangirls and kids follow Nadal.... but I have come to expect such lowest common denominator stuff around here.

However they do tend to attract different sorts of fans... There is a vocal minority of Federer fan's who are so worried about their favorite and so threatened by his biggest rival Nadal that they feel obliged to dismiss anything to do with him. His game, his titles, his interviews, his ability with languages, his habits and even his fans. But, but, but, but..... please make him go away

True - those fans are a bit loopy. They remind of some Rafa fans in their almost obsessive devotion. Do they remind you of anyone hawkeye?

Nah! It tends to be Federer fans who dismiss Nadal and not the other way round.  See exhibit A... a perfect example posted seconds after my description  

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Don't worry bout that Hawk cause he will be going away hiding when he isn't able to defend as much. Won't fight it out like Fed did with his injuries

The worst you get from a Nadal fan is perhaps calling Fed "smug" which he is perfectly entitled to be  

I don't quite agree with you, the author of this thread is no Nadal fan [eventhough I like Nadal as a person] and certainly likes Federer and I wrote the article to highlight whats Nadal's importance in ATP tour.

Jahu wrote:Yes, I think Djoko fans are most well behaved here, as he has a total of 2 fans here, 1 of them a Masterclass of how a fan should be.

Respect for HM Master  

Thats a tongue in cheek comment , ofcourse I am not talking about HMM .

Jahu wrote:Yes, I think Djoko fans are most well behaved here, as he has a total of 2 fans here, 1 of them a Masterclass of how a fan should be.

Respect for HM Master  

It is true the Djokovic fans are dwarfed by the mountain of FeDal fan's but like their idol they do rather make up for it in the noise they make. I half expect them to break out in a dance, do a comic turn or maybe even an impression just to let the world know that they are there

hawkeye wrote:

Jahu wrote:Yes, I think Djoko fans are most well behaved here, as he has a total of 2 fans here, 1 of them a Masterclass of how a fan should be.

Respect for HM Master  

It is true the Djokovic fans are dwarfed by the mountain of FeDal fan's but like their idol they do rather make up for it in the noise they make. I half expect them to break out in a dance, do a comic turn or maybe even an impression just to let the world know that they are there

hawkeye wrote:

Jahu wrote:Yes, I think Djoko fans are most well behaved here, as he has a total of 2 fans here, 1 of them a Masterclass of how a fan should be.

Respect for HM Master  

It is true the Djokovic fans are dwarfed by the mountain of FeDal fan's but like their idol they do rather make up for it in the noise they make. I half expect them to break out in a dance, do a comic turn or maybe even an impression just to let the world know that they are there

invisiblecoolers wrote:

Jahu wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

hawkeye wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

Jahu wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

2015 Facebook Slams - CYGS Winner Nadal.

lydian wrote:Judging fan base by likes is like judging metabolic rate by turd length.

(looks much better than ).

Djokovic is clearly in panic mode. Every time he thinks he's done something worthy on the tennis court he looks in the mirror and demands "Who is the fairest of them all" but whatever he does the same answer comes back...

What about a cute baby? Dam it some people can produce 2...

What about a cute child singing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is28xjIYmhU

Djoko craves attention almost as much as you do hawkeye.

One thing Djoko really must stop (with immediate effect) is the silly dancing.

The excuse that "I only do it because they ask me to" might be okay when you're twelve years old, and your schoolmates wanna have a laugh. He's 27.

Exactly, can you imagine if Djokovic married Petrovic instead...

...it would be the Ministry of Silly Dances every night at Chez Djoker   

This pic still cracks me up re: twins separated at birth.

I've re-read the comment twice and, yes, it really does seem that Hawkeye thinks Federer fathering twins is a greater achievement than Djokovic fathering a single baby.

HM Murdoch wrote:I've re-read the comment twice and, yes, it really does seem that Hawkeye thinks Federer fathering twins is a greater achievement than Djokovic fathering a single baby.

LOL indeed, that one had me laughing too.

But it is, HE is right, 1 is still more then 2...

Jahu wrote:But it is, HE is right, 1 is still more then 2...

Federer is so amazing, he evens wins the fecundity competition.

...and 1 is more than 2.

...and Nole fans (of which we only have one remaining here - HMM) are far more aching to make noise and be visible than Fedal fans (of which we also have a prime example here)...

HM Murdoch wrote:
Federer is so amazing, he evens wins the fecundity competition.

HM Murdoch. I have to admit I did chuckle a bit when Federer announced the arrival of his and Mirka's twins just after Djokovic announced his impending fatherhood I'm sure he and Jelena will make great parents but as far as being newsworthy I do think a second set of twins beats a single baby.

Anyway Djokovic has come up with another way to boost his popularity. What did you think of Djokovic's press conference? I hope Federer doesn't get any ideas. Can you imagine? He wouldn't have to get a random small girl to sing. He has two cute girls of his own that could do the work. I wonder if they can dance too?

I don't know the background to the girl singing. I'm assuming it must be a fan or a competition winner or something? It's a bit odd but it didn't really bother me.

The dancing though, is excruciating. It's embarrassing that he's being asked but, as Lags said, he needs to say no to it.

Rearing a second set of twins is remarkable... I can only hope my reproductive system is not that efficient when my time to sire an heir comes

A mans reproductive system can produce a few million kids every go. It's the woman who brings it all down to small numbers.

Lightweights.