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What do you think, especially at the O2 Final?

  • It's normal for Fed to be cheered/Murray jeered, same would happen to Nadal/Djoko at home

    Votes: 8 25.0%
  • The English still don't give Murray credit, and might never do, even to the point of booing him

    Votes: 18 56.3%
  • Americans and Aussies are just generally more friendly, fair people

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • I didn't watch the match/don't know/don't care

    Votes: 5 15.6%

Is Murray better liked in America than Britain?

9K views 121 replies 58 participants last post by  Deathless Mortal 
#1 ·
Judging from the support he got at the USO versus in Wimbledon and the WTF, one might get that impression. The NYC crowd, which can be hostile, was very warm and supportive of him for the most part.
Consider his last match of the year:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/nov/12/andy-murray-dignified-exit-world-tour-finals
There was much talk of a change in attitudes toward him after the Wimbledon loss, but that might have just been Olympics euphoria. The O2 was a hostile a crowd as I've seen toward Andy outside other than at the French. I can't think of another top 10 player that would receive that sort of reception at home.
 
#66 ·
The abusive Fedfanboys are damaged in their personal lives.
They are not true tennis fans.

Remember the US Open bitchfight in the stands? Old man got pelted by a thug.

How about the fan with her baby crying & whining in the hot stadium because her mommy didn't feed her with her booby? Probably a Fedfangirl.

The Fedfan dimwits with bulging eyes in Thailand and Halle were wonders to behold.
 
#74 ·
Most people i know in here in England like Federer more than Murray. Personally i'm not a fan of Murrays tennis. As a man, he can be very witty and amusing. His on court antics are what makes me dislike him most.

As for the 'because he is scottish' thing...There is a general feeling of dislike for everything Scottish in England. I am sure the Feeling is mutual north of the border. There lies the problem, it's a catch 22, the more you hate me, the more i hate you and so on. It also doesn't help that atleast half of Scotland want to be independant from the U.K. because that is causing further resentment.

p.s. im a big fan of Drew Mcintyre in the WWE, so im not anti-scottish, atleast not completely :p
 
#76 ·
the thing is, Murray is a very hard personality to get behind or particularly like. the only time in his career where I have really 'felt' for him while he's had a speech or anything, was when he cried at Wimbledon

and while I was really pulling for him to win the US Open, and thought that he might have a new better attitude, the problem has persisted. I mean even watch Murray's reaction after winning the US OPen in interviews immediately after and stuff

he doesn't beam with excitement or joy, he seems sort of like a robot. even Djokovic who's style of play I am critical of at times, is funny and TRIES to entertain occasionally. Murray is far too dull and unexciting for his home crowds to really get behind and love

when you win the US Open in the interview after your fans want you to be excited, they want you to seem happy and to seem personable. but Murray didn't and doesn't

it's the void of personality that he either has or persists on presenting, at least why the Brits don't love him. who really loves Murray's personality? he's a nice seeming chap but the personality is nothing to write home about

the Americans love the under dog, and that's why they cheered for Murray

the problem Murray faces is that he lacks real flare and for personality to make up or his on court tantrums. if you have a player like Roddick who could act like an ass hole, the American fans will still get behind him because at least he bothers to entertain in interviews, and at least he shows personality. Murray is too much of a stone

no country wants their one tennis player representative to act like a stone, being they do not want to be considered boring and of whining attitude, and that's what Murray represents now, even after his big wins
 
#80 ·
The casual US fans don't know much either. They watch Patrick McEnroe and think Federer invented the Dropper Shot. ESPN invented the Federer Funhouse, but the house was burned by Djokovic- on the daily.
 
#87 ·
I don't know but during the USO final I think they kinda just went on rooting for Murray after leading 2 sets to love. Thinking it would be quite dramatic and special to finally seeing him winning a slam. I think the response would have been different had No1e won it in a straight forward fashion.
 
#88 ·
If you watch some of Murray's off-court interviews that are more personal in nature and aren't done by major broadcasters, he generally seems more relaxed and comes across as far more likable than it may seem on-court after matches. I think the British media are to blame. They are notorious for building their athletes up and knocking them down as and when it suits them. Murray got such a ridiculing from the nations's press after that comment about the English football team (unjustifiably so as it was taken out of context), that he's obviously been drilled by his PR team, and you can tell he's a little uncomfortable when a microphone's shoved under his face.

It's not quite as bad as it used to be, but old habits die hard. The British media are scum, pure and simple.
 
#90 ·
Absolutely, it's spot on.

Even if you see his more intimate SkySports interviews, he'll be relaxed and joking around, talking about the game and all sorts of other things. Then compare that to the interviews by the BBC when he's just played at Wimbledon, and the poor guy doesn't look comfortable in his own skin.

I said somewhere else on here, the whole England/Paraguay episode was a case of him joking around, something the press wanted from him - then when he does have a laugh they get hold of it, take it out of context, and turn hordes of morons against him. I think the way he's handled the consistently appalling treatment he had in the press (as a very young man, let's not forget) has been admirable. But then it's what they do..... I remember Henman being slagged off, not just whenever he lost, but the character assassination treatment as well.
 
#92 ·
First, it should be semi-final in the poll question.

Second, as someone who was at the Murray/Berdych match and the Murray/Federer match, I fail to see why OP and other posters think that Murray's not well supported in the UK. I was absolutely terrified by the Murray support when I was at the first match; it came pretty close to the level of craziness that I experienced when I watched Lleyton Hewitt in Melbourne. The support for him wasn't as loud in the semi-final, but that's to be expected. Federer fans come from every part of the world. I sat next to an American/Canadian girl who was cheering for Roger and I went with a guy from Hong Kong who was also a Roger fan, and I'm from Singapore. The fact is, Federer's popularity transcends nationality. The crowd support for him in the SF, in my opinion, had little to do with whether or not Murray is well-liked in the UK.

Just an anecdotal story: I bought a ticket to Roger's match with del Potro from this English guy on eBay. At the match I asked him who his favourite player was. He didn't have a strong preference for anyone, but said that he liked watching Roger play because he's just so good :)hearts:), but he wanted Murray to win the tournament because Murray is the local boy.

Bottom line is, you simply cannot gauge the level of home support for Murray when he plays Federer (or maybe even Nadal). I can't comment on the booing because I didn't know what was happening as I was too busy staring at Roger, but purely based on the crowd support for him at those two matches that I attended, I don't think he's widely hated or disliked in Britain at all. In fact, I'd say it's the opposite.
 
#93 ·
Not really. He's liked everywhere, but not as much as the other top four which is understandable. I think it's kinda expected considering he's quite shy and likes to keep himself to himself, even though he's a nice guy.... of course there'll be the tards on here who don't like him for no reason.
 
#94 ·
Not really. He's liked everywhere, but not as much as the other top four which is understandable. I think it's kinda expected considering he's quite shy and likes to keep himself to himself, even though he's a nice guy.... of course there'll be the tards on here who don't like him for no reason.
Nop, he is only liked by some tards but they are just a few bunch of blind ppl that follow tennis since a couple of years. Just take a look at "favourite tennis contest" he was eliminated in first round (and four players went through next round :rolleyes:) He is disgusting when he loses, whining and bad-mouthing on the court. Not to mention his awful tennis style :wavey:
 
#96 ·
Federer was always going to get more support when they played at the World Tour Finals, the British crowd clearly felt sorry for him after the trashing Murray gave him only a few months before in the same city.

Seriously though Murray's support has always been great though at home, seen him play at Queens, Wimbledon and World Tour Finals against Federer, Djokovic, Nadal, Tsonga, Ferrer, Berdych, Del Potro etc. and only against Federer and Nadal has he not had a majority of the crowd behind him, which is expected given how great the pair of them are.
 
#103 ·
Federer was always going to get more support when they played at the World Tour Finals, the British crowd clearly felt sorry for him after the trashing Murray gave him only a few months before in the same city.
Murray was always going to get more support when they played at the Olympics, the British crowd clearly felt sorry for him after the trashing Federer gave him only a few weeks before in the same city.

:wavey:

Seriously though, there is one poll option missing which is the correct one. It isn't about murray it's about Federer. He is loved and cheered wherever he plays. He surpassed nationality he is a global icon. So it's only natural that people would support Roger in a tennis tournament over a brit in england.
 
#104 ·
Murray is not so unliked. I am a fan, from England, and I chat to some other English people who like him. I was at a barbeque when he won the Olympics and everyone was rooting for him. His haters through are especially vocal.
Also, the Brits are a critical bunch and just because you are British does not mean you are immune from being openly criticised even if it may not be particularly helpful at the time. His display against Federer in the WTF semis was worthy of a few boos but does not mean he is disliked. The boos were just a reaction to his unsportsmanlike behaviour. In general, if Murray is disliked it is because of such behaviours and he could not expect everyone's respect when he acts the way he does.
Maybe Americans like him more, I don't know. But it might be a little like how uncles and aunts spoil their nephews and nieces. They might overlook his little tantrums and be charmed by his declarations of the US open being the Major he wants to win most. Meanwhile the Brits are like his parents, wanting him to behave properly and hoping he can pull himself together and win the home championships for the first time since great grand-dad Perry.
 
#105 ·
If Murray took PR classes and opened up more to the media, he'd be more liked, but why should he do that and change who he is? It's clear he doesn't want to be in the limelight, and wants to keep himself to himself... In my eyes his stand point on this is a lot better than the multiple UK Footballers who do silly stuff each weekend when out clubbing, and end in the papers for the wrong reasons. Murray doesn't do this, he's not that kind of guy, which is good. He's a nice guy, who doesn't want the attention on him, just remember his comments on the sports personality where he said everyone who did well in sports this summer should win it, and not just one person, who else would say that?

At the end of the day he has the right to be himself. Let's remember that Federer was once a hot head and wasn't really able to handle the media. Nadal still struggles, but the only reason he gets liked and praised (other than the amount of Slams he's won) is because of his looks. Think about it, who are people going to like more, a tanned and beefed up Spanish guy, or a pale scruffy Scottish guy? The only guy in the top 4 who in my eyes natural behaviour makes them likeable is Djokovic.
 
#107 ·
Let's put it this way, in the final the crowd was no different with their love for Federer. Bigger cheers for him than Nole, and no booing when Fed got frustrated. Nole on the other hand, was boo'd when he booted the ball away in frustration and I seem to remember the crowd booing some errors of his or something like that. Nothing to really read into because the crowd love Murray whenever else he plays in the UK, even against Fed.
 
#109 ·
I was at Wimbledon this year and Murray had a lot of support from the English. The impression I get is that the English haven't really warmed to him but the Wimbledon crowd are very 'proper' in their behaviour and will always cheer the British player. The O2 crowd is completely different. Partly because there were a lot of Swiss in the crowd but also I think because there were a lot of brash City types who are more than ready to boo a player they don't like. Not at all like the posh/ very polite Wimbledon crowds.
 
#110 ·
Federer had scattered boos back in the 2005 US Open after he said to the crowd that the US finally had US semifinalists.

He also got booed in other matches, like when he whined at an umpire for the Simon match.
 
#112 ·
Think the support he gets in the US,is due to him being the under dog out of the top 3,Americans feels sentimental towards the Brits..And he does gets a lot of home support as well,at Wimbledon:)That night he was playing against Fed Who always gets cheered bo matter where he plays.
 
#114 ·
Andy has so much support just for being British. He would really be hated if he wasn't from there. But yes as noleta pointed out, America likes murray for the most part because of a strong sentiment to Britain. Also we love an underdog...
 
#116 ·
In short, yes. I have seen Andy get excellent support at many stops throughout the US, much more so than he would in the UK. Andy used to say that the USO was his favorite slam, and he seems to fit in well stateside.

America still sort of looks up to the UK in many ways, and people in the States consider Brits to be elegant. This can be seen by the huge influence that the UK has on American entertainment. To be honest, Americans by and large are very uncultured, and I think that many Americans would not find the UK as ideolic as they would like to believe. Just like the younger generation in the US, it seems like all younger Brits are all about themselves and obsessed with acting "gangsta" as well.
 
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