@iluvandy, Well, the thing is, I don't see it as fawning if I want to be able to say something positive about him or acknowledge his remarkable achievements.  What you just said illustrates my very point - can I speak freely without being seen as fawning over him?  Interestingly, a commentor on a BBC article about yesterday's match said they couldn't stand Andy because of the commentators constantly fawning over him.  I don't hear any fawning but they do.  I guess it's all about perspective.

As for the term "haters", yeah, I could have picked a better word.  Sorry about that.   It's a word used rather loosely online these days, like "troll".  I appreciate you all don't hate him.

The thing is, and I may regret weighing in on this, the comments hating on him far, far outweigh the comments giving him credit or just, you know, saying something vaguely nice about him.  I feel unable to speak up in favour of Fed because the haters certainly have a louder voice.  I want to be able to openly admire and respect Fed's achievements and like him as a person too without a countering argument about why he is a smug, arrogant pr*ck, something which I cannot see at all and never have.  Honestly, every time he plays, wins, loses, talks, the comments start again and I hate it so much.

Maybe we need some balance.  Can we have a player appreciation thread please?  A place where people go to appreciate and not hate.  I doubt that'll happen but it's an idea...  :-)

Please be clear I wasn't just singleing you out, Ghostbuster, but rather talking in more general terms about the arguments resulting from both points of view.  I've been very angry at the defeatist attitude on here at times, the absolutely over the top language used to basically write Andy off not only in the current match he's playing in but also the entire tornament, the entire season, and even the rest of his career.  That, I would say, is ridiculous, and it's predictably at a time when everyone's emotions are high so it pushes a lot of buttons.  Sometimes a little self-restraint goes a long way.  But that goes both ways; if you don't like what someone has said, say so by all means, and then just move on because I've seen arguments about negativity going on for far too long and draining the life out of the place.

Anyway, I just wanted to say my piece, which I've done before to no avail because people will be people.  lol.  I've never been driven away permanently because there are some truly lovely people here and when we're happy we're really happy.  I just find that I'm also a wee bit happier when I limit my time spent here during tournaments.

I hear you, Elly.

The squabbling certainly puts me off coming here, Ghostbuster, and I'm sad to see that on a rare dip back in here it's still going on.  I can see both sides of the argument actually and as long as there's no abuse towards Andy I kind of wish peeps could all try and be a bit more tolerant of how each individual reacts and expresses themselves differently.  My usual reaction to comments that I don't like is to roll my eyes, bite my tongue, and move on, because, really, at this point, it's the same tired argument being repeated endlessly and it does a disservice to this site.  Constructive criticism is all fine and well, as long as it is constructive and not melodramatic overreaction, but to be honest I've been too scared in the past to even be constructive for fear of what reaction I'm going to get.  And so that's why I largely stay away at this point.

Marcus and Jay YES!!!  Well done, cracking result!

Aw bless him.  So proud.

Love Thanasi.  The dream would be for him to go on and win.  Well, a girl can dream...  This might actually be Grigor's year.

This thread has been as big a disappointment as this match, frankly.  I'm out.

Whatever. If he doesn't care, why should we?

You can read his mind?  Andy will be disappointed but he's not going to break down in tears now is he?

It's so bad, I'm actually laughing.

Perhaps it's the heat.  Or a strange coping mechanism?  This is actually very sad but I'm so happy for you that you can see the humour in it.

Me, I'm just shaking my head in disbelief.

What the actual f**k.

This is actually quite funny.

You've got a weird sense of humour.  Nothing funny about this whatsoever.

Fight!

Good god.