Federer salutes great British failure's first win

steven · Tennis legend

RE: Robert Dee - equalled the record and now WINS A MATCH!!

Grundon · Intermediate Club Player

Thanks Count - keep working on the spelling and I'm sure the Times will spot your star potential eventually!

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

steven wrote:
Sorry it's not in the print edition though, especially since I texted Bethan to suggest she might like to buy a copy on her way to uni today if she hadn't been on here first. If she bought one and looked through it, she must wonder what on earth I was on about. (probably not for the first time ... )

It's Ok, I didn't buy a copy, I came on here first. And far from not having a clue what you were on about I guessed immediately - despite only being half awake at 1am, some of us do sleep Steven

- that I'd made the news, I mean I certainly deserve it

(OK, so I thought it was probably just a mention of BT.net so I was almost surprised)

steven · Tennis legend

Oops, you keep your mobile on at night?! Apologies. ashamed

steven · Tennis legend

I thought the Dee mania was over as soon as it had begun, but no. I'm finding it hard to type this because I can't stop laughing so bear with me.

AFP report that somebody asked Federer for his comments on it during his press conference at MC today.

Federer salutes great British failure's first win

1 hour ago

MONTE CARLO (AFP) A Briton ranked as the worst professional tennis player in the world won praise from world number one Roger Federer Wednesday, after managing his first professional victory.

...

"All you can do is work hard and hope it will turn in your favour," said Federer whose 40 million dollars in prize money dwarfs Dee's total of 2,220 dollars in his three years playing such tennis outposts as Rwanda and Sudan.

"It's not going to happen again. That's some streak to have against you."

...

Is that incredibly cool biggrin or is the reporter who asked the question even sadder than us? ashamed

-- Edited by steven at 17:25, 2008-04-23

James · Satellite level

RE: Robert Dee - equalled the record and now WINS A MATCH!! - Fed wishes him well

steven · Tennis legend

James wrote:
I haven't read the article but is it the reporter that brings up the subject? You have not considered the possibility that Federer is a regular visiter to the BT.net website, and likes nothing more than to spend his spare time checking out British hopefuls. And thus, it was here that he first read about his idle Rob Dee and decided he would talk about him to the press.

I had indeed just assumed that a reporter brought it up, so you could be right. wink

Was the mis-spelling of idol deliberate?! smile

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

That's just so surreal, I'll bet poor Federer didn't quite know what to say, though it was probably a welcome relief from all the questions about his number 1 status and recent problems in form.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

imoen wrote:

That's just so surreal, I'll bet poor Federer didn't quite know what to say, though it was probably a welcome relief from all the questions about his number 1 status and recent problems in form.

Hardly surprising, given that he was 0-4 & the 1-5 & 15-30 down in the final set against the brave Spanish qualifier, Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo, in Monte-Carlo this afternoon. OK, he then roared back to take the tie-break (&, thus, the match) 7-1, but he must've had a helluva shock! Clearly, none of the players feels he's invincible any more & they're all prepared to have a go!

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

I wasn't suggesting that the questions weren't justfied, just that the volume of them must be pretty frustrating. Not many people want to dwell on their own failures in depth, repeatedly in front of cameras and journalists.

James · Satellite level

steven wrote:

James wrote:
I haven't read the article but is it the reporter that brings up the subject? You have not considered the possibility that Federer is a regular visiter to the BT.net website, and likes nothing more than to spend his spare time checking out British hopefuls. And thus, it was here that he first read about his idle Rob Dee and decided he would talk about him to the press.
I had indeed just assumed that a reporter brought it up, so you could be right. Was the mis-spelling of idol deliberate?!

You can decide that for yourself wink

steven · Tennis legend

The Daily Mail have now got Eddie the Eagle to write and offer Robert some advice today. It's actually a really compelling, quite passionate article and I have to say, I agree with him!

"I developed a handy mechanism to cope with it, so if the other ski jumpers were making comments, I'd think to myself 'well, you may be a better jumper than me, but I'm better looking' which worked well."

Wonderful stuff!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=561556&in_page_id=1770

Meanwhile, Neil Harman in the Times explains what happened in the Fed interview at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article3802923.ece :

Poor guy, Roger Federer said, and while he might have been sparing a thought for Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo, who almost became the most talked about world No137 ever yesterday, he was, in fact, commenting on Robert Dee's burst of celebrity as the Briton who rose to the challenge just as he was about to be tarred with the world record for consecutive losses.

And Bethan was right:

Federer did not mind the subject of Dee's apocalyptic career being raised in his interview here yesterday, for the Swiss had just managed to stave off another defeat, the rate of which this year has assumed apocalyptic proportions in some minds.

...

Somewhere in Spain, Dee, the new it person of British tennis, had the consolation of knowing that Federer was thinking about him after those 54 consecutive losses and that sublime win in match No55. What are you going to do? the main man said. All you can do is work hard and, hopefully, it's going to turn in your favour. I bet you guys were rough on him. wink

I'll skate over the graceless comment piece in the Telegraph today, though the bit about only Max Mosley and Frank Bough outdoing British tennis fans for masochism is mildly amusing.

Kudos to the LTA spokesman for: "If you really enjoy what you do, you stick with it and that's what Robert has done." Fair enough. smile

And finally, here's the last quarter of Fed's interview transcript from http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php?id=49105 so you can see what he actually said (the Fed haters will love the supremely modest thrd quarter wink

)

Q. We just had a British player who lost 54 matches in a row. Had he lost 55 matches in a row, he would have set a world record for defeats.
ROGER FEDERER: You guys are rough, huh (smiling)?

Q. What would you say to someone who is in that kind of situation, losing matches week after week after week? Would you say, Keep going?
ROGER FEDERER: I would rather lose 55 in a row. At least that's going to be mentioned more. But you're going to mention him even though it's 54. [he knows them so well, eh?! wink

]

Q. We have already.
ROGER FEDERER: You have already (smiling).

Q. Do you give him credit for carrying on?
ROGER FEDERER: I mean, Vince Spadea had an issue at one stage. I think he lost 21 in a row, I remember. What are you going to do? I mean, all you can do is work hard, hopefully it's going to turn in your favor, and it's not going to happen again. You know, I mean, that is some streak to have against you.

Good for Fed smile

THE END (surely?)

-- Edited by steven at 05:28, 2008-04-24

goldfish · Futures qualifying

Apparently Dee was also mentioned on a comedy sport's programme on R4 last night - Gary Richardson's? A quip was made about Henman being his coach - very below the belt.

OldEchoMan · Social player

Well, as I have been 'outed' by Akhenaten (it takes a good one to get past you lot) I will have to hold up my hands and say that it was I who asked Roger Federer the question about Robert Dee. I don't regard it as 'sad' but choosing the moment, sensing Federer's mood, how the conference was going and whether a man of whom I've asked hundreds of questions, would react. He took it all in good heart - he smiled all the way through what was hardly an intense interrogation - and actually inquired of me afterwards what the story was all about.
BTW you will find that the story on Dee in The Times appeared on page 30 of Wednesday's paper and not on the sports pages.
Anyway, I'm going to have to change my name now. Best wishes to all.
Old Echo Man

The Hoose · Satellite level

OldEchoMan, I had thought it was common knowledge that you were on this board. I assume you'll be staying - I don't see why anyone has anything to hide and we're always in favour of extra coverage for the unsung "heroes" of British tennis!