Wimbledon 2008 **Spoilers**

[weringo]

Why do you say that?

Just his whole demeanor, compared to someone Federer who is a perfect roll model on court Nadal seems very arrogant and often deliberately tries to intimidate his opponent - not neccessarilly a bad thing but it's not good sporting behaviour.

On top of that things like time wasting (which he's been penalized for in the past) don't go in his favour.

 

[sunama]

.. on court Nadal seems very arrogant and often deliberately tries to intimidate his opponent - not neccessarilly a bad thing but it's not good sporting behaviour.

On top of that things like time wasting (which he's been penalized for in the past) don't go in his favour.

He is very physical and his way of playing is to be very hyped and fired up. Regarding the time wasting - Ive not seen him do this, so not sure how long ago you saw him do this.

As you saw in the interview though, once he is off court, he calms down and is very pleasant.

Murray on the other hand, does all the gestures and makes rude faces, bicep poses, etc. In interviews, off court, he is just the same - he comes over as a bad boy wannabe. I would normally call him a spoilt bratt, but he is a little old for that.

Even Nadal stated in the post match interview, that that was the best he has ever played at Wimbledon, which is exactly what I was saying during the match - Nadal is playing as best as he can and I doubt could move up any gears.

On Sunday, Nadal will seem to play worse, as Federer will make it difficult for him to play how he wants.

Sunday's game looks good.

 

[GazD]

Nadal gave him a lesson. Some of his shots were excellent, the whip and power generated were amzazing. As mentioned Federer vs Nadal final with the way they are both playing could be one of the great matches.

 

[weringo]

snip

Nadal has been notorious for time wasting in the past, I'm not sure if he's cut it down recently but here's just a couple I've found on Google:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/7439782.stm
"The Spaniard then gets a code violation for time-wasting"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jun/08/frenchopen.tennis3
"Nadal is warned for time wasting."

As for Murray I don't think he's too bad on the court, he's often seen to be in a bad mood when he's losing but you'd expect that from a competitive sportsman. Some people may not take a liking to his personality but I think he's OK.

 

[Weebull]

Nadal is the kind of player who never gives up, or lets his opponent's back into a game easily, and Murray just didn't do enough to push him when he could. His first serve was far too inconsistent, and he didn't seem to have the luck when he did try to force the ball to the lines, which led to him playing it safer, and paying for it.

Oh well, well done by him to get this far, and Nadal was impressive to watch,

 

[Haiku]

Murray was outclassed, plain and simple. There's no shame in losing to someone of Nadal's quality.

Looking forward to the final.

 

[Viper²]

¡Vamos Rafa!

 

[semi-pro waster]

Murray on the other hand, does all the gestures and makes rude faces, bicep poses, etc. In interviews, off court, he is just the same - he comes over as a bad boy wannabe. I would normally call him a spoilt bratt, but he is a little old for that.

Please don't make a big deal about Murray showing his biceps, it was a silly gesture that he has made once in the elation of a great comeback as a nod of recognition to his fitness/strength coaches. As for the rest, he doesn't come across particularly well in interviews because he is a bit of a taciturn individual generally and doesn't like playing the 'game' much of being nice to reporters although he has recently made huge strides in that area.

Today unfortunately Murray came up against Nadal playing great tennis, no excuses to be made or needed, sometimes good or even great players get outclassed and there is no shame in admitting that.

 

[sandy10]

Glad he lost comprehensively - he slaughtered at the English so I feel it's only right to laugh at his demise!

 

[Weebull]

Tim Henman will spend this fortnight in a BBC commentary box, leaving Murray to play his first Wimbledon since the retirement of Middle England's favourite, so perhaps now is the time finally to end the suggestions that the Scot is in any way anti-English.

It all stems from a joke Murray cracked during a joint interview he did with Henman before the 2006 tournament, when he was asked which football team he would be supporting in the World Cup finals, given that Scotland hadn't qualified. Murray replied: "Whoever England are playing, ha, ha."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/sport/2008/06/23/stmurr123.xml

 

[FrankJH]

Glad he lost comprehensively - he slaughtered at the English so I feel it's only right to laugh at his demise!

Shows what an idiot you are rather than Andy Murray who was beaten by No 2 in the world (and beat No8) imho

Yes Murray was beaten but I dont think anyone but Fed - would have got anything similar today - still think AM did very well indeed against the No2 in the world

look at the other quarter of the draw - Clement vs Schuster (sp?) - I mean whoever wins will be easy in comparison to Murray - cant remember who is in the other quarter (not inc Fed's quarter)

Some of Murray's play deserved a semi against Nadal or Fed it was that good

 

[marscay]

Please don't make a big deal about Murray showing his biceps, it was a silly gesture that he has made once in the elation of a great comeback as a nod of recognition to his fitness/strength coaches. As for the rest, he doesn't come across particularly well in interviews because he is a bit of a taciturn individual generally and doesn't like playing the 'game' much of being nice to reporters although he has recently made huge strides in that area.

Today unfortunately Murray came up against Nadal playing great tennis, no excuses to be made or needed, sometimes good or even great players get outclassed and there is no shame in admitting that.

he's being himself in interviews which is why he comes across that way, which funnily enough is the same demeanour he shows on court.

for a guy of his age you have to come to the conclusion that he's just not a very nice individual - again a quick check through the number of coaches he's already fallen out with just reinforces it.

of course publicly blaming the LTA as the primary reason for his brothers singles ranking of 890 odd and branding the english players (both male and female) as a bunch of layabouts who don't work hard enough is just another reason so many ppl already have no time for this muppet.

he would do a lot better to shut his mouth and concentrate on becoming the player he thinks he already is.

 

[FrankJH]

he's being himself in interviews which is why he comes across that way, which funnily enough is the same demeanour he shows on court.

for a guy of his age you have to come to the conclusion that he's just not a very nice individual - again a quick check through the number of coaches he's already fallen out with just reinforces it.

of course publicly blaming the LTA as the primary reason for his brothers singles ranking of 890 odd and branding the english players (both male and female) as a bunch of layabouts who don't work hard enough is just another reason so many ppl already have no time for this muppet.

he would do a lot better to shut his mouth and concentrate on becoming the player he thinks he already is.

Seeing as he is actually pretty successful (if not VERY successful) on court, its probably a good thing!!!

And yet after every manager/trainer change he has actually improved - I wonder if is bothered

I would suspect that the majority of players in the world - let alone just in the UK - could actually learn a thing or two from listening to a successful player, whatever his age (and its absolutely certain someone outside the LTA would know less about this than someone inside who has the courage to speak)

Seeing as AM is no10 or thereabouts in the world after Wimbledon, personally think thats pretty decent myself, he has never compared himself to Fed or Nadal in general and knows he can learn a lot from playing them - so he is concerntrating pretty well considering his major injuries last year

 

[sunama]

The good thing about A.Murray though, is that the does work hard on his game. He isnt like some English sportsmen who get photographed by paparazzi coming out of night clubs, get drunk, shag ***** and rely on sponsorship deals to finance the lifestyle.

The problem is that he comes over as a spoilt bratt, especially on court. And the faces he makes look nasty. Maybe in time he will mellow and improve. As long as he doesnt get into bad habits, he can improve.

The problem is that he will need to improve to the level of Federer and Nadal, in order to win the top tournaments/slams, regularly. And as has been mentioned in this thread, these players are probably the best ever. Hence, to win, he will need to be one of the best players ever and probably THE best British player ever. I'm not sure if he will be able to pull this off.

 

[FrankJH]

The good thing about A.Murray though, is that the does work hard on his game. He isnt like some English sportsmen who get photographed by paparazzi coming out of night clubs, get drunk, shag ***** and rely on sponsorship deals to finance the lifestyle.

The problem is that he comes over as a spoilt bratt, especially on court. And the faces he makes look nasty. Maybe in time he will mellow and improve. As long as he doesnt get into bad habits, he can improve.

The problem is that he will need to improve to the level of Federer and Nadal, in order to win the top tournaments/slams, regularly. And as has been mentioned in this thread, these players are probably the best ever. Hence, to win, he will need to be one of the best players ever and probably THE best British player ever. I'm not sure if he will be able to pull this off.

Even if he peaks and sustains no4 or no5 in the world (which is potentially a lot easier than what you are suggesting) he will be the best... UK player ever considering where Nadal and Federer are, and that wouldnt be a bad thing at all

I have no problem at all about all the noises / faces jhe makes, I actually think its a good thing for his progression - he isnt swearing anything as much and it doesnt hurt anyone or offend - so whats the problem?

 

[sunama]

Even if he peaks and sustains no4 or no5 in the world (which is potentially a lot easier than what you are suggesting) he will be the best... UK player ever...

I dont think he will be able to sustain a top 5 ranking.
But only time will tell.

 

[C64]

It's the same old story imo the best servers winning at wimbledon people underrate federers and nadals serving its about placement as well as power and nadal served exceptionally well like federer did as ever.
If you cant break your opponents serve it demoralizes you take away Federers and nadals amazing placement and unbeatable serving and they are very beatable imo.

Nadal and Federer have the best serves in the world because they are so consistent and their second serves have great accuracy and placement too which sets up the point for them usually.
Yes they have awesome all round game too but I haven't seen anyone serve as consistently good or as accurate as them since Pete Sampras.

 

[FrankJH]

I dont think he will be able to sustain a top 5 ranking.
But only time will tell.

He only dropped to 18 because of a bad injury for a huge chunk of last year, he has won two tournements this season and is in the top ten as of next week, from his last 16 game it proves he can beat the number 8 and therefor in all liklihood the majority of the lower 1/2 of the top ten

With more experience and training he could sustain a top five placing without too much trouble (after all we have seemingly agreed that below Nadal the top ten are all much of a muchness depending on the day/surface etc)

 

[del_piero]

Brilliant display by Nadal yesterday, pretty much flawless all the way through. Definitely the best grass court performance of his career.

I would like to think that he would have what it takes to beat Federer this year. But looking at the way Federer has been serving so far, he will be winning a lot of free points on his own serve should they meet in the final. Therefore, he shouldn't be getting involved in as many long rallies, which would work in his favour as it would be harder for Nadal to wear him down. But if Nadal plays as he did today, we'll be in for a cracking final.

On a side note, did you guys see Nadal's interview as soon as he left the court? It's without doubt one of the worst interviews I've ever seen. Nadal had just put in a great performance, yet all but one of the questions were about Murray!

 

[sunama]

Nadal had just put in a great performance, yet all but one of the questions were about Murray!

Hehehe. You are right.

Its for the TV audience - most of whom have tuned in to see a British player play in the quarterfinals. A lot of the audience probably havent even heard of Nadal or care about who he is.