Wimbledon Tennis

[Insane_Drusilla]

I saw Murray's loss coming to be honest. Im not his biggest fan, and it hurts me because i want to get behind our British hopefuls and support them, but his lack of charisma and arrogance on court really annoys me personally. Most importantly i dont believe he is this 'great' player that alot of peole pitch him up to me. He does not possess any of the grace or beauty that someone like Federer has on and off the court. Though he is a good grass-court player and has does amazingly well over the past 12 months and really up'ed his game generally he is still in-experienced and not as great as everyone makes him out to be. Players like Roddick, Haas etc still pose a threat and should not be ruled out. No-one gave Roddick a chance and that really upset me, because Roddick has reached the final at Wimbledon twice now and earned spectator respect. Its a shame that the British media hyped him up so much, and created a lot of pressure for him which in turn can affect public opinion into thinking he is sure-set finalist when there were still alot of players out there that could challange him. I dont think the pressure affected Murray but the righteous praise and idea that he had a sure set path to the final got to his head a little. He was held up high on a thin thread and now it looks as though he has let the British down when he hasnt, he has done well and clearly isnt good enough yet to go all the way. Murray still has time, and i hope the media and especially the BBC going on about him and ignoring other players such as Fed who has more than once proved his worth, give Murray the time he needs to grow as a player.

Sorry about the rant i just really annoyed with the media and people who always over-hype things and ignore the reality of the situation and build things up just to tear them down after.

[jennyw888]

Same old story, back to the Tim Henman days!

[Cortone]

I thought Andy Roddick was great in the post-match interview today. I'm rooting for him to beat Federer... And Andy Murray to win next year. I think he does lack 'charisma' compared with Nidal, but a sheet of photocopier paper has more charisma than Federer!

Murray is above Roddick in the ratings, and because of his recent performance, not hype. (As Roddick said in his post-match interview.) It is difficult for Murray to do it here for a range of reasons - but... he is 22!!! Come on - players are still developing at this age. I totally agree about the hype - it is immense pressure for Murray. As Roddick said - the pressure was not on him, but on Murray. And, if you looked at his (Murray's) girlfriend, I think she knew this, which suggests he did too. Tim Henman has acknowledged that Murray is a better player than he was, so ... give him time and space to deliver, rather than stressing his failings. The more we do that, the less chance of success.

Also, it appears that Murray has been after Roddick's coach, who seemed - according to the commentators - to have given Roddick the match plan (he was very quiet about this in the pre-match interview). AND... Murray was wrongly accused of swearing by the umpire. (although - I accept that players at this level should not get upset about this.)

BTW - I watched about 10 minutes of women's wheelchair doubles today. Good on Wimbledon for doing this. Don't even want to think about what would have happened if it had rained though! (I heard the commentators commenting on how other countries did not give attention to doubles generally - I quite like these - often they are more interesting that them mens' "fast serve and then it is the next point" matches.)

BTW 2 - destresserai - thanks for the info on the temperature etc.!

[dovetail]

Still not too late to experience Wimbledon Centre Court.

A limited number of tickets are released for general sale online through Ticketmaster the night before the Women's and Men's final.

http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/venue/148 ... _sports_f3

I got tix for Centre Court tomorrow.

Tix for the Men's final fo on sale from 8.30pm tomorrow night.

[bubblez]

come on federer!!!

[destresserai]

An amazing game - felt really sorry for Roddick - he looked so distraught after the game!

[steve9872]

That last set was like 3 sets.

[marjoreemarjora]

Yep was gutted for Roddick. Glad Pete Sampras came over to watch the match.

Just not a fan of Federer - sorry Bubblez -such a poser with all his co-ordinating clothes.

Fingers crossed its a final with the two Andy's next year!!

[platini_ng]

Murray is above Roddick in the ratings, and because of his recent performance, not hype. (As Roddick said in his post-match interview.) It is difficult for Murray to do it here for a range of reasons - but... he is 22!!! Come on - players are still developing at this age. I totally agree about the hype - it is immense pressure for Murray. As Roddick said - the pressure was not on him, but on Murray. And, if you looked at his (Murray's) girlfriend, I think she knew this, which suggests he did too. Tim Henman has acknowledged that Murray is a better player than he was, so ... give him time and space to deliver, rather than stressing his failings. The more we do that, the less chance of success.

I agree there was far too much pressure on Murray. After Nadal withdrawal and several good matches, British media already assumed Murray would win this year.

But age is not really an excuse. Nadal is only 23 and he has already won 6 grand slam titles.

[Cortone]

An amazing game - felt really sorry for Roddick - he looked so distraught after the game!

Yes - he did, and it must be awful after such a long game to have to wait out on court for all the presentations etc. Although I felt sorry for Andy Murray, it was nice to see that the crowd appreciated Roddick's commitment.

And platini_ng is right that age is not everything, but Nadal (who I like very much indeed) was not having to take on the pressure of playing on grass AND managing the varying expectations of the British tennis fans. ANd if you have a look at the data, most Slam winners are older than 22... Sorry - this will not display here, but you can check it out.

http://www.tennis28.com/charts/winner_age.GIF