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[tennis_girl]

Yeah, Phil, why couldn't you be more negative?

[Fiverings]

Seves 'em right that a lot of the empty seats are "prime ringside" so that tv coverage makes the attendance look even poorer than it is.

[Aileen]

I tend to go along with the view that the score doesn't do justice to the match.  There were some long, nail-biting games which certainly couldn't be called a stroll.  Andy did very well in coming through against an opponent who, although not on his best form, had the potential to cause problems.  There's no doubt that Andy has benefited greatly from the increased support he's been getting since the Wimbledon final.  From the Daily Mail -

That famous display of emotion has done the 25-year-old Scot no harm, and the ovation that greeted his return to Centre Court spoke of a warmth towards him that has not been so evident before.

‘The support I got from people I bumped into in the street, from politicians and celebrities, was overwhelming after the final and I’m not really used to that,’ said Murray, who now meets Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.  I understand that in the past it wasn’t that easy to get behind me because I didn’t look particularly happy on court.'

'Before and during Wimbledon I felt like I had grown up a bit and that my demeanour was better. All the support afterwards was great for my confidence and made me want to get back to work.  Last week I was so pumped to play that it was almost like I was peaking too early. There is a real motivation in wanting to help the team medal count here.’

[blueberryhill]

Gr8 quote from Andy there Thanx Aileen.

[blueberryhill]

Nice article Ruthie and so good Andy is starting to feel confident cos we all know what confidence does mentally

[Ruthie]

What I liked in particular is the implication that he feels happier on court now.  And perhaps that's partly because he feels happier in his own skin - or at least that's what I sense.  So yes it's all very encouraging. 

[Ruthie]

For all of us it was obviously easy to get behind Andy. And I did not have any problems with his on-court demeanour so far as long as it does not affect his play. On the contrary, I have always been bored by watching players who show no signs of emotions, display a pokerface (or smugface) throughout the match, which some may find a sign of maturity and control, and especially in Fed's case a sign of gentleman- like behaviour. Btw, what has often been considered as ranting at his box is  for me a simple explosion of understandable anger. I am not sure if that is what he sees as "not seeming happy on  court". But sometimes it probably helps to let out your emotions, but that depends on the player, and should not be generalized. I would find it awful if all these characteristics of a player were ironed out so that in the end we have a uniform product. Imagine a tennis world full of Fed- Faces....

I agree to some extent cp and certainly wouldn't want all emotion drained out of Andy.  But I do think he's hurt himself sometimes by getting so down on himself and then letting his opponent see it.   And I agree that the supposed ranting at the box is usually anger with himself.  Another thing I always remember is Agassi saying in his autobiography that the reason tennis players talk so much to themselves on court is because it's so lonely out there.