Coaching by Mauresmo

RJA · Hall of fame

RE: Coaching by Mauresmo

indiana · Tennis legend

RJA wrote:
The Optimist wrote:
RJA wrote:
Oakland2002 wrote:
Novak has frustrated me immensely in the past by manipulating the tempo of a game by appearing injured and then making a spontaneous and rapid recovery.
I am not really sure it is fair to hold this against Nole without pointing out that Andy has done on the same on numerous occasions.
As in changing the match tempo or as in feigning injury?
Maybe not feigning injury but how many times does he look dead on his feat one minute and is then tearing round the court the next?

That certainly has happened a lot in the past and still on occasions, and at least in earlier days some opponents must have been thinking "got him". And there were a few insinuations from pundits and commentators, with one vocal one being Virginia Wade ( not to Andy's amusement ) - "Hollywood" springs to mind.

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 10th of May 2016 02:29:55 PM

Vandenburg · Futures level

Sep issue, that Oak touched on, but I really do not think Novak will be looked on well as history goes by, yes he is a great champion, but I mean as a player etc.

He has never sustained the kind of public level of fanclub that Rafa,Fed, Sampras have.

I also agree, with that he pisses a lot of people off, myself included, not sure what, can never put my finger on it, but yes all these injury faking etc really grates on me. And I also hate Boris Becker too, which does not help.

Spectator · All-time great

I can't comment on Novak Djokovic, but I watched a fair amount of Andy Murray's match against Jarkko Nieminen that was the proximate cause of some of the "drama" remarks ... and have always thought them extraordinarily unfair. Mr Murray clearly was in pain from a back spasm. He recovered somewhat and went back to playing in a fashion that more resembled his norm. It's in the nature of spasms that they can come and go. Anyone who thought that was "drama" has, to my mind, clearly never had the joy of a back spasm.

TMH · Futures qualifying

The only person who claimed he was a drama queen was the abhorrent creature that is Victoria Wade. As far as memory serves, anyhow. Annabelle Croft may have also made similar comments.

RJA · Hall of fame

The "Drama Queen" remarks were unfair and on the basis of that match where he had a genuine injury. There have been plenty of other matches where they could have been applied more reasonably.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not having a go at Andy here, I just take exception to the idea that he has some kind of moral high ground over Djokovic when it comes to on court antics. He might not be quite as cynical about it but he has certainly distracted a fair few opponents down the years.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

My view is that Andy often does the dying duck act.

I don't think it's a deliberate antic at all, just part of his character and way of expressing himself on court.

But it's not particularly attractive to watch and one of the reasons that Andy has a low fan base outside the UK (of course, he's never been number one, so it's not quite right to directly compare his public 'rating figures' with those of Nadal, Federer or Djokovic).

I think, mind you, that Andy stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of being an ambassador for tennis. And I will be interested to see what shape and form that takes (if any) when he retires from tennis, in years to come.

Spectator · All-time great

I'm not sure that Andy Murray has a low fan base outside the UK - outside the Anglophone world, maybe, but I get the sense that in Australia, Canada and the US, he's quite popular. And perhaps for some unusual reasons. Indeed as I was googling to find an article I remembered reading on why he's actually come highest of the Big Four in some surveys, I also found this about his popularity in Australia. Yes, it's tongue-in-cheek. But the final two paragraphs may perhaps amuse: www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/jul/08/andy-murray-wimbledon-champion-australia-popular

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I've never been to Canada or Australia but they are countries with strong Scottish connections so I'd expect Andy to have a good base there.

I've never noticed a real strong fan base in the US, although I'm not saying they're against him - he has some recognition based on being a previous winner, but is never in the same category as the other three in terms of press coverage.

The Europeans tend to view him (in my experience) as 'grumpy' and 'not exciting' to watch - someone who plays Djokovic's tennis but not quite as well as Djoko.

However, none of that is a criticism of him - he's not a 'huge personality' sort of guy (and that's to his credit really). And his tennis is what his tennis is.

As said, I think he does a lot for the integrity of the game by speaking out where he sees fit to speak out (women's tennis, LTA, doping etc. etc.) and as such is head and shoulders above some of the others.

From a tennis point of view, I'm rather pleased him and Amelie have come to an end. I always reckoned it was pretty much a mutual split - she has a lot of calls on her time now.

Carole has just written a good article about it all:

www.si.com/tennis/2016/05/13/andy-murray-impact-of-amelie-mauresmo-career-gender-equality-tennis

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I see that Berdych has just got broken up with Dani Vallverdu - just saying - you never know......

Spectator · All-time great

And has done so, from what I've seen, singularly gracelessly, offering a public message which says simply that his results haven't been good lately and that at his age, he needs to move swiftly if things aren't going well. Not a word of thanks or of how much he's enjoyed working with his coach, or how he wishes him well. There may be - I hope there is - something supplementary somewhere that offers more. But it seemed to me that Mr Vallverdu was being somewhat scapegoated in the wake of the double bagel loss.

I don't see that Dani Vallverdu would make sense in present arrangement. In a sense, Jamie Delgado seems to offer a similar figure - a long-time trusted friend who is also a coach. Delgado has the added advantage that he's played on the Tour himself and that he's been a coach with really very good results: what he and Gilles Muller did together was impressive.