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by **dryeagle** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 9:37 am

What a waste of time, nobody is even in the stands. There is more interest in the Washington Tournament this week.

by **FulhamFan** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 10:21 am

It's not just tennis. It's every event that isn't swimming. You'd think after 100 years the greeks would see whatever they could. They say 40% of tickets typically go to foreigners however there's about 114,000 less tourists then they expected.

Alot of people were at the federer match but otherwise the stadium is reletively empty.

If the stadium isn't to capacity for track and field then there's definetly a problem.

None of the events i've seen really featured greeks so it kind of makes sense their isn't as many greeks at those events. What I find surprising are the lack of americans are these events. Usually any event where their are americans has a strong contingiant no matter what country it's in. Maybe they really are scared of terrorism.

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 7:49 pm

Just because there aren't people in the stands in an event, it does not mean that others are not interested in the action. Why does everybody care so much about how many people are right there in the stands, anyway (other than the players). There are so many more people watching it on TV (the matches covered on TV), and you can bet that a lot of them are SO MUCH more interested in their country's players doing well at Olympics than the same players doing well at say the Washington-DC ATP ..

After the kind of blood and guts that some of these players are spilling out there, it is sad if we start saying Olympics tennis sucks. Come on.

Jay

by **John Weber** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:36 am

I just want to second what Jay said. I attended the DC tourney here in Tuesday in person, saw some exciting matches, and then watched on TV just this past afternoon as one of my favorites, Fernando Gonzalez, thumped Andy Roddick in the Olympics. I also noticed empty seats in the stands at the Olympics in women's gymnastics, a supposed marquee event, so there -- although I'm happy to report they were packed to the gills in DC the other nite for that Agassi vs Goldstein first round match, and also on the side courts for just about any match going to a tiebreaker or a third set.

Hey, does anyone know if next year DC gets back to a 48 draw or not? Can't stand seeing there only being four singles matches per day for Wed and Thurs this week -- somehow it doesn't seem right.

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:09 am

Just watch what the two Chilean youngsters are doing .. Gonzales and Massu. They have both reached the singles semis .. That assures Chile of their very first medal at this Olympics.

.... and the unseeded pair has pulled upsets after upset to reach the doubles semis too (taking out a tough #3 seed Llodra-Santoro in a 9-7 third set after their singles matches, one of which was a 3 hr 20 min dandy by Gonzales yesterday).

These two have played eight matches each in 5 days.

Will you see something like this at ANY of the ATP events, or at a grand slam. You won't.

That is the beauty of Olympics. In my book, an Olympics medal in tennis IS more important than anything else - including even grand slam titles. That is unless you are from the few countries that pick up most medals at the Olympics and the tennis medal is just another medal.

Jay

by **dryeagle** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:01 pm

Interesting question here: What will get higher TV ratings - A) Olympic Gold Medal Matches; or B) Night 1 from the US Open (first round matches). I believe both will be televised on USA.

My vote is B.

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:49 pm

In the USA, definitely the US Open 1st day (depending on who is playing). But that doesn't prove or disprove anything.

Jay

by **Mini Tennis Coach** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:47 pm

It odoes not madder if you are playing in your back yard or the US OPEN or going for the gold!

effort is effort and desire is desire!

the player that wants it will get it!

i love the thrill of the fight !

if i am playing or watching or coaching!

some much fun to watch 2 players that you coach do battel!

even betther watch your blood kid play against kids that you coach!

to much hype put on whos watching!

some of the best tennis played is tennis that know one even sees!!

GO FISH!!

USA

by **zikmat** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 1:53 am

I completely agree with Jay regarding what would be best followed between a first round at the US OPEN and an Olympics Final.
Maybe in the USA it would the US OPEN 1st Round, but in most of the 200 or so other countries in the world, it might be the Olympics final... that makes a lot of people !!!

Is there anyone from Chile on this forum ?
I guess it should be crazy down there !
They already are sure to win 2 medals just for tennis while they just had won 2 medals in a whole century (one silver 1952 / one bronze 2000) !!
And I think there is a high probability that the two chilean will play each other on final and get the Gold and the silver medals !!
I am quite fairplay as Gonzalez has beaten Grosjean and the Double team from Chile has beaten Santoro/Llodra...

by **zikmat** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 2:10 am

I felt a bit like watching Davis Cup games during this Olympics. And that's a really good point, as tennis is most of the time individualistic.
This feeling would not happen during the US OPEN where I might support the players (not only depending on there nationalty) and not tems or countries.
I think that's kind of refreshing !!
But my point is that tennis in the Olympics is really followed only in countries where the Davis Cup is a major Event all sport taken together.
I don't think that in the US a Davis Cup Final is as important as the Superbowl or any NBA game.
That depends on sport culture in every country.
For exemple Olympic Fencing is a major competition as seen from France while I don't think that yesterday's semi final of the US fencing team was mentionned in the USA. (I am wrong ?)
...

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:15 am

When was the last time you saw two guys each play 10 matches each in 6 days, trying to win both singles and doubles - not to mention trying to do it against the best players in the world.

Don't sweat. I don't think it has ever happened, as far as I can imagine.

What Massu and Gonzales has done this week is one of the most memorable things ever in tennis history. For me the last most momorable thing (may be because I am Indian and biased too) was Leander Paes playing 25 sets and winning EIGHT matches of doubles in the last three days of the rain delayed 1999 Wimbledon to win both the men's doubles and mixed doubles events. You have to be "in the zone" to do something like that. But that was doubles, even if it is probably the most sets played by anybody in a 3-day period in ATP/ITF history. For the sheer magnitude of the accomplishment and the physical effort, what these two Chileans have done this week beats everything else.

Of course, the tennis world really has not noticed the magntitude of effort from Massu and Gonzales (just like I may be only guy who knows about Paes playing for 15 hours in 3 days at Wimbledon). Not the first time that true spirit about what is right in sports goes unnoticed, because we think first about TV ratings and peoople in the stands and gate collection and number of aces and serve speeds .....

By the way, for the total amount of physical exertion (say energy spent) during the Olympics event to win a medal, I don't think there is any sport that is as demanding as tennis. No other sports requires nearly top-flight complete physical effort for something like 15 total hours in 6-7 days for ONE medal. Is there another sport at Olympics more physically taxing (in its totality) than tennis?

Then you see two guys adding an extra 10 more hours of exertion in doubles.

Well, these two have assured Chile of a silver and a bronze at least - that country's first two medals at this Olympics, after 41 other countries had hit the medal table and had their national anthem played there. The Chileans had no choice but to focus down and put their all into it.

That is spilling blood and guts right there on court. I salute the two youngsters and for ever will be their fans.

Jay

PS: I have a former PhD student who is a professor now in Chile and so I have alwasy had a soft corner for Chile... May be I am the closest Chilean fan here!

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:29 am

effort is effort and desire is desire!

Well said, Mini tennis Coach ..

by **Kasia** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:44 am

I agree that the Chileans have done an amazing job! They are surely national heroes in Chile now

But whether they will be so well remembered in other countries is a matter of debate. If it was a Grand Slam event, they surely would. But the Olympic Games are not as popular among the tennis fans as US Open or French Open. That's sad, 'cos Grand Slam events are there every year and the Olympic Games only once every four years.

by **dryeagle** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 7:17 am

Kasia wrote: But the Olympic Games are not as popular among the tennis fans as US Open or French Open.

.....or Wimbledon, Australian Open or any of the Tennis Masters Series events (Toronto and Cincy were much bigger and more followed events than the Olympics this summer).

by **Rob & Stephen** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 11:31 am

Can we stop moaning about the attendences at the Olympic Games. The word from the organisers is that many US corporates bought vast block bookings at all venues sometimes up to a quarter of the whole entry and it is their seats that are not being filled.

Of seats that went to ordinary buyers the uptake has been nearly 75%. You could tell the sports fans anyway if you had looked at the shotputt finals where there was no corporate seating - the Athens officials refused to uphold the requests from the corporates for separate and premanent seating arrangements at the ancient site. :HeadBang:

It has been said that corporate sponsorship is ruining the Olypmics and i have to agree on this basis. It also is having a dreadful effect on the US Open as well, where the corporates can sponsor a player and forcefully get them into the draw through a wild card, or threaten the USTA with the withdrawl of their funding if this does not happen.
The best way of choosing wild cards is to get them competing in a playoff as happens at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open, or on the basis of previous home based tournaments as at the French Open.
It would not surprise me if all the wild cards at the US Open this year went out in the first round without winning a set between them.

Rob

by **Fee** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:17 pm

So exactly which corporation is jonesing to see KJ Hippensteel play in the US Open this year? Or any of the other wildcards for that matter?

by **FulhamFan** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:05 pm

I believe that the rules of the big 3 american sports have been changed because of corporations. Many team sports in the world don't have timeouts. But if you look at american football, somehow a game that should last an hour stetches to 4. In basketball they have "tv timeouts". And baseball has lost a bit of its aura with corporate naming of stadiums and outrageous prices inside the stadium.

One improvement was when players were required to play the second game right away instead of resting. This improves the pacing but I doubt sponsors approved because it cuts into ad time.

Having coporate suites at the olympics is an outrage to me. Olympics should be up for grabs for anybody

Same crap happens at the US Open in the early rounds when the best seats in the stadium are empty because they buy tickets for the series but only start showing up for the semis.

Anyway, did anybody see massu's amazing matchpoint against moya?

Also fish is in the freaking finals?! I was never a fan of him and even less so when he needed artificial fans at the US Open. Silver is too good for this guy.

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 8:30 pm

I just cannot believe what the two Chileans are doing ...

Come on people, aren't any of you seieng what is going on in Athens?

ATP's blurb --- Fernando Gonzalez claimed Chile's first medal of the 2004 Olympic Games with a dramatic victory over American Taylor Dent to claim the bronze medal in Athens and then teamed up with Nicolas Massu to win gold in the doubles final. Gonzalez saved two match points in a marathon final set in the bronze medal singles match before recording a 6-4, 2-6, 16-14 victory in 3 hours, 25 minutes. Gonzalez and Massu then defeated Rainer Schuettler and Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 in the doubles final to claim gold ..... Massu also will meet American Mardy Fish in the Olympic Gold Medal Round in Athens on Sunday.

Wow! .. 6-4 2-6 16-14 and then 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 ...

It is humanly impossible what these two Chileans are doing. What kind of an "in the zone" show ... They are doing this after all the tough matches played in the last 6 days in doubles and singles .. That too at an event where nobody loses a match without a fight.

I will guarantee that we will never ever see an effort like this ever again.

1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze already assured for Chile - still the only medals by that country. Could become 2 Gold and a Silver tomorrow.

Jay

by **FulhamFan** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 9:02 pm

Could become 2 Gold and a Silver tomorrow.

you must mean 2 golds and a bronze.

That was the best doubles match i've ever seen. As the only medalist chile has they're going to get a HUGE welcome in their home country.

If massu beats fish after such a late match this has to be one great moments in all of tennis.

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:47 pm

Yes, I mean 2 golds and a bronze ...

Amazing stuff.

Jay

by **FulhamFan** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 2:36 pm

Holy Crap!

That was the best match I've seen since Coria vs. Gaudio.

Probably the single greatest athlectic feat in tennis since orantes beat connors.

by **Kasia** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 3:05 pm

I only saw the last couple of games and they both looked sooo terrible and sooo tired... I don't know, but I had a feeling that Fish wasn't into the game today. Maybe I just saw him in the worst moment, but... And Nico looked sooo motivated and very determined and he finally got the match point, no, the gold medal point

I saw a photo of a Chilean crowd going crazy on the street after Gonzalez won the bronze medal. How do you think are the Chileans behaving right now?

All I can say is: :shocked:

Bravo Chile!!!!!

by **zikmat** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 2:26 am

Woooo!!
Finally when we were noticing the efforts of the two chilean to get in the singles semi finals and in the double final, we were hardly at 1 % of what they were going to achieve !!!!
That's terrific !!
Ang we're not going to see that in any grand slam ! That is the best proof that Tennis is definitely an Olympic sport with all the engagement of the players and the nation behind them !!!

Can you imagine any winner (or favorite) of a grand slam (Federer, Roddick...) spending hours on court to win both singles and doubles with the huge enthousiasm and fighting spirit !!
And I am sure that Nico Massu didnot win for him for his whole nation.. that's what pushes him to win !!
And that the magic of "team tennis" where players from countries like Chile or Belarus (for this year davis cup) or France (for several Davis cup) who are not among the best players or among Grand Slam Favorite but can manage to win great events when they feel the support of all their nation !!! :HeadBang:

It's just a bit sad that Chile's victory is not as mediatized as it deserves to be. In France, the TV channel brodcasting the Olympics Games didnot show a minute of the Bronze final. They were just saying during hours that due to a long tennis match (i.e. The bronze final), the match between Henin and Mauresmo was continuous delayed... but about a 16-14 last set ??? Nothing !!! :KooKoo:

CHILE

by **Kasia** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 3:44 am

In Poland the olympic tennis is also neglected. Yesterday, they showed only a couple of games from the final match and that was all for the whole olympics!! They didn't even show our doubles team match which is an absurd for me.

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:36 am

Well, I believe only two courts had television feeds from Athens, if I am not mistaken .. I know the Indian TV kept saying that they would try to show the Paes-Bhupathi matches but they could not, unless the match was on the show courts. I assume the Fyrstenberg-Matkowsky match was on an outer court?

Jay

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:37 am

zikmat: Same thing about the men's doubles bonze match which also had a 16-14 third set that Ancic and Ljubicic pulled off on Paes-Bhupathi. Nobody saw the last few games of that match which were reportedly unbelievable.

Jay

by **Rob & Stephen** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:39 am

In the UK, unless you have access to either satellite or digital tv, we saw absolutely nothing of the four finals or semi finals. Is it becasue Tim had lost? :roll:

Is it because they thought that nobody would watch?
I think that the BBC has mucked up again as they did at Wimbledon by not showing the matches that people actually wanted on the normal channels - its ok for them to go on about interactive services but what if your not currently covered by them like i am ( i'll have to wait until 2006 before i am).
But well done the Chilians for their superb effort.
Didn't you just know that Taylor Dent's serve would falter the longer the final set of the bronze medal match went on. He relies too much on his serve and that why he'll never win anything of importance.
Ciao,
Rob

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:52 am

I think ITF, ATP, WTA etc lost a golden chance to spread the word on tennis as THE TOUGHEST medal to win. Was rather easy to come up with scientific stats to show that Massu and Gonzales spent more physical energy than anybody else to win the medals at Athens.

No point in blaming the TV companies.

But when was the last time you saw any creative thoughts in bringing tennis up to where it belongs in world spots? - Right at the top os the #1 individual sport...

They should start some sort of positive hype on using the next Olympics towards making tennis a sport that DOES GET shown on world TV. That requires some serious work and some creativity. Instead of using Olympics as a place where you bring in a whole new set of fans, they completely missed the boat. So, what is new? ... Sad.

Instead we heard about points being awarded/not .. Tennis authorities and players spend so much time worrying about so many things that are of no relevance to the potential fans of this game - they are really who matter untimately in the success of the sport.

Badminton made a big breakthrough on US television this time, getting shown quite a bit during Olympics coverage. I even heard the TV guys talking about a "cult following" developing after all the coverage. Somebody probably made the case for this being very popular in Asia, etc, I suppose. Whatever .. Badminton????

"We have our grand slams which are big events - what else do we need?" .. That is the tennis thinking.

If you feel ecomfortable where you are and do not think you need to improve, you will only get worse. That is where tennis is.

Jay

by **Rob & Stephen** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:03 am

Jay, don't knock badminton - it uses much the same skills as tennis and requires the same amount of dedication and time as tennis. I should know, as i play both regularly
The Chinese have used badminton progr.ammes - amongst others - to complement their current high ranking players skills, i.e Zheng, and the Gold medal doubles winners Li and Sun. You can see that they have benefitted from it.
But i agree with the fact that its the tennis authorities who should be making a gigantically wholesome effort to get further coverage and reporting of tennis on all medias.
The ATP discussion board is woeful.
At least the ITF is starting to come round, but still has a long way to go.
Steve G. to rule tennis :HeadBang:

- ever wonder what would happen if he ran the USTA, ATP or ITF?
Adieu,
Rob

by **dryeagle** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:07 am

Wow, Olympic Tennis actually became somewhat exciting. Give Massu credit for putting forth an unbelievable effort and claiming 2 golds, who would have thought. I watched the doubles match Sat. night and the singles yesterday, I was truly impressed.

Too bad for Fish though, I would have love to have seen the American pull it out. I guess he is this generation's version of Todd Martin, which isn't a bad thing, but in the shadows of another superstar (Roddick) or superstars in Todd Martin's case (Agassi, Sampras, Courier).

by **dryeagle** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:12 am

FulhamFan wrote:
Also fish is in the freaking finals?! I was never a fan of him and even less so when he needed artificial fans at the US Open. Silver is too good for this guy.

I guess when you refer to "artificial fans" I guess your talking about the Fish heads. It may have been driven by the media, but I don't know. I think Fish gave a courageous effort at the olympics and brought home the silver, well done. Give him credit, he steps up for his country, and if it weren't for Fish last year in Slovakia then the Davis Cup team would be in relegation right now. He is a true American, unlike some of these "artificial" Americans (i.e. Navratilova).

by **zikmat** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:26 am

Just to make fun of Fish that I don't really like (I find him to proud) :
The Chilean newspapper called him a Clone of David Beckham (for those who don't know but I gues they are not too many : he is an English Soccer Superstar).

By the way, Next time The Olympics will be in China : There, the ATP can get a lot more new fans !!

I hope they will make some efforts...

If not, in 2012 , I hope it will be in Paris !!! Imagine : It woud be in Roland Garros ! That 's a nice place to watch the Olympic games, don't you think ?
Well that's not done, and that's in a long time...

And 2012 will have either Steveg or Jay as president of the new fusion of ATP/WTA and ITF... GREAT !! =D>

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:26 am

R & S: I like badminton. I am from India and have played it too - It's a great game and is physically a bit demanding too. It's also one that kids can play in their backyard which is not possible with tennis. Just that I start pulling my hair out when I see tennis unable to make the strides that even badminton is making.

dryeagle: Yes, Fish is really turning into the new Martin. USA can really use one. Roddick did make an effort though to do something for the country, though. He wasted to do it, but this is all just a new thing for him, having focussed all along as an individual pro player fighting for himself. He really seemed to be only learning about how players from many countries put their all and then some extra into Olympics tennis, and he seemed a bit surprised. He was very upset that he and Fish could not pull off a doubles match which Paes and Bhupathi won in straight sets. Roddick threw his racket in utter frustration at one point, puzzled why he and Fish trying their best can't seem to get much done on the Indian pair. But that is how it goes in Olympics.

Jay

by **Kasia** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:31 am

Well, I think Roddick is overconfident. He relies too much on his serve, too, and when it's not working properly he gets frustrated. It's a bit sad to see a talented player not making use of his talent. An important factor is also a fact that he almost never loses, lately. Only Federer can easily beat him. So, after a series of wins he feels disappointed with what's happening. Suddenly, he's not number 1 or 2 and he must face defeats. He's not used to that, I suppose, and that makes him angry. After he lost the singles he looked as if he blamed everyone but himself.

by **Rob & Stephen** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:42 am

Around here, very few people like the style and attitude of Federer and Roddick because they both seem to be a bit :Stuckup:

At least Roddick tried to be nicer in the UK Wimbledon version of The Weakest Link - I couldn't image po-faced Federer doing such a thing.
Federer, i feel, is only invincible as the other players are making him so - like they did to Hewitt a few years ago. I'm not saying their bad players, but they are not what i'd call game players - i.e. their egos are bigger then their talent and they do not give other players the respect they deserve whether they can beat them or not.
If you have the long term talent to match up their egos, as did Connors, Borg, McEnroe, then you can start behaving that way, not before.

by **Kasia** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 11:01 am

I don't know about Roddick, but I have to deffend Federer. A friend of mine met him a couple of times in various situations (I prefer not to disclose anything more) and he says Roger is very very nice and he definitely isn't :Stuckup:

Perhaps you may think so seeing him on court, but it's all about concentration. Also, at the press conferences he seems nice, maybe even shy a bit. So, I can't agree that he lacks respect for the other players. On the contrary, I've always found him unobtrusive, modest and full of respect for his opponents and the game.

by **zikmat** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 1:29 am

I do agree with Kasia on Federer !
First, his playing is much more entretaining than Roddick, more variation, his tennis is not only based on his serve.
Then, he looks much more friendly than Andy does (who on this, I put Andy and Mardy Fish in the same bag : :Stuckup:

) and all the French players who played him were very positive about him :
Santoro is just fond of his game and personnality, Escude was very positive, I ve never heard any comments from players as regard as his attitude on and off court.
Well we cannot say the same thing about Andy (maybe that's the Brad Gilbet touch ?). Who remember the time he played Todd Martin (in grand slam I think) and he was just awful with Todd and upsets him (while Todd is a very kind person)... ??
Well Roddick is one of the least humble n°1 we had in tennis !!

by **RapaNui** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:57 pm

Hi!

this looks like a foreign fan club of Fermando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu and R. Jayakrishnan is the president?

:BlueRazz:

Nice to see we are not ignored by all the rest of the world

by **R. Jayakrishnan** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 6:44 pm

Hey, I have been a Massu fan ever since 1997 when Rios and Massu (then just 17) came to India for Davis Cup and almost beat Paes and Bhupathi in the doubles match in a 5-setter. Actually but for a home-cooked linecall late in the 5th set that could have given Chile a match point, the great Indian pair would have had a loss (of course Paes-Bhupathi never loses while playing for India, with a 23-2 record in doubles under Indian colors over 8 years (both losses only to the Woodies, at Atlanta and Sydney) ... Till last week, the team that came close to upsetting them was Massu and Rios. I remember that match in 1997 in Delhi and I still cannot believe that a Massu who had never even seen a grasscourt before that, could do that well in doubles then. Of course, all the good work was undone by Silberstein in the 5th match who choked away the final 3 sets to Bhupathi and lost the tie to India....

Of course I am an India fan first, but I like the Chileans.

Jay

by **dryeagle** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 8:43 pm

zikmat wrote:Then, he looks much more friendly than Andy does (who on this, I put Andy and Mardy Fish in the same bag : )
Well Roddick is one of the least humble n°1 we had in tennis !!

Wow, some very harsh words on Roddick. He is very popular in the US. I think he is one of the most searched people on the Yahoo search engine. If he is the arrogant, selfish jerk that you say he is, then I think many would be turned off by that, but who knows. I think Roddick is resented by most outside of the US, I guess its jealousy.

by **FulhamFan** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 1:38 am

If people don't like roddick here it's not because of roddick. It's more because the media, pat mac and carillo won't stop hanging on his nads. As well as replaying his losing matches instead of other live matches.

by **zikmat** » Wed Aug 25, 2004 2:17 am

Fulham Fan : You might be right about the media related to Roddick. By reading discussion on other topics, I saw that he is overmediatized. Well, I am not living this in the US so I cannot assure that, but my opinion was made by the latest appearance of Roddick in Europe.
And I think he has changed behaviors in the last two years, since reaching first place.
I appreciated him before because he showed some emotion on courts and had a great fighting spirit. But now I think this fighting spirit has turned into a bit of arrogance.
Maybe the media put him on a throne... maybe it's part of his caractere...
Do you think a guy like Moya, Rafter, Sampras, Agassi who all reached 1st place behaved like this after that ? I think they showed more respect to their opponents ...

Well I am not saying that he is the meanest guy on earth either !!

By the way, do someone know which match against Todd Martin I was referring to (where Andy was not so Fair Play) ?

Well it looks like the media can deform things in either way (bad or good), not only in politics and international relations but also in sports... [-X

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