If Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Murray wins

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

people will say

it is only because Nadal wasn't there
he isn't British anyway
etc
etc

push them up, pull them down

He is a bit delicious, I agree.

I still hanker for the days of Andre Agassi's lovely eyebrows and Edberg's legs

Is he playing this year??

Hubba Hubba!!!

Henman was a damn sight more gracious to the public (and in interviews) than Murray ever has been. (and I am not a huge Henman fan) This is one thing that Nadal, Federer and all the true champions have always been- gracious both in victory and defeat whilst spoilt tantrummy Murray just needs to grow up.
Murray is undoubtedly a very good player, and will be remembered as being better than Henman and yes, he probably will win Wimbledon at some point....(but let's remember all those years when the favourite gets knocked out on the first day- always a larf) and yes, if he does get through I probably will sit listening to it at work and cheering him on, but I still think he's a bit of a prat.

Why can't people forget what Murray was like as a surly teenager? Talk to an average 17 year old and they are going to say some unwise things.

He is now 22 and grown up. He is very, very gracious about his opponenets both before and after play.

He gave a great interview on Radio 5 this week and he is undoubtably a very likeable chap. He is obviously serious on court - he is not going to get to the top by clowning around. And when did Nadal or Federer ever lighten up on court? As for off-court, he and his team have great fun in their training.

As for the silly comment about his aggressive style of play - well, d'oh. He'll never win if he is playing a round robin at the local vicarage.

I agree with you scienceteacher - I was a surly teenager and I know lots of others who were to.

agrees with science teacher
He has really come on and come of age. I suspect Federer will win but would love to see Murray go all the way. A great shame about Nadal but he must protect his future health.

scienceteacher...lol, all tennis players are teenagers when they start out..boris becker won wimbledon at 17...i don't remember any tennis player as annoying as murray.....his age has nothing to do with it.

No one had heard of Becker before he won Wimbledon, whereas we've know Andy Murray for five years.

And Boris had his fair share of bad press.

How exactly is Andy Murray annoying? I find this assessment of him totally bewildering.

ST is right - some sections of the press tore into Becker when he first appeared (especially the crustier types). They didn't like his grunting and rolling and yelling and thought he was terribly rude.

I like Murray and I'll be very excited if he gets to the latter stages.

As for Nadal - it's a shame, but luck is a part of the game. As is fitness.

It's rubbish to say that Henman sucked. He was one of the world's top ten players for years on end - in one of the world's most competitive sports. People who think he sucked don't know much about tennis.

oh i don't know...he's just unfortunate in that he has no style or charisma....you need a little bit of each.

anyway, i have a school fete to get to...

Henman was a very skilled player and a delight to watch when he was on form. His weakness was the demons inside his own head.

PW...sorry, that was to Scienceteacher.

agree with you btw..people who knock Henman know zero about tennis.

He's not a politician - he doesn't need charisma.

I would suggest that any Murray downers should visit his website - andymurray.com. You'll see by looking through the blog section and the biographies of his team that he really is a very happy and witty chappy.

What does it mean for a sports personality to have charisma? Their annual outing to Question of Sport?

...i like you

I blame the BBC. We had all those years of them desperately talking up people who really weren't world class, although were obviously great national-level players (Annabel Croft, Andrew Castle, Jo Durie and so on). They kept cutting away from genuinely interesting matches featuring furrin players to show us a try-hard Brit getting beaten in straight sets. (I well remember the time Castle very nearly beat Mats Wilander, who was a big crush hero of mine.)

Thus, over the years we all started to sigh heavily whenever a Brit player appeared. So when Henman popped up, and was actually rather good but not quite good enough to win, he had to battle against a lot of people who reach for their gun whenever they hear the words 'British hopeful'.

"demons inside his own head" Arf!

His weakness was that he was an inferior sportsman and a total wetbag who choked anytime he got near a proper player!

Yes, I concede Murray may have grown up and turned into a nice chap.....since, erm, last Sunday when I last saw him interviewed....

I personally think Henman's "demons" were more likely to be Mummy and Daddy Henman sitting in the Royal Box looking like they were both eating wasps...(even when the boy did good....)

Anyhoo, none of them are as fab as McEnroe on a good or bad day....them were the days.....

John MacEnroe was the archetypal teen brat for years and look how positively charming he is now, so there is hope for Murray.

I blame the BBC too for hyping up Henman all the time, dreadful biased commentating when he was playing. He was good, but he wasn't absolutely outstanding. He was good in comparison to others we have had. I suspect Murray is actually a better player than Henman so is prob in with a tiny, weeny chance of winning (ie if isn't knocked out in first round, or Roger has a funny turn or something).

John MacEnroe was the archetypal teen brat for years and look how positively charming he is now, so there is hope for Murray.

I blame the BBC too for hyping up Henman all the time, dreadful biased commentating when he was playing. He was good, but he wasn't absolutely outstanding. He was good in comparison to others we have had. I suspect Murray is actually a better player than Henman so is prob in with a tiny, weeny chance of winning (ie if isn't knocked out in first round, or Roger has a funny turn or something).

That's true Margot, I suppose I forget Mc's cringeyness as I was fairly cringeworthy myself at the time....
I do agree Murray seems to be a better player than Henman.
I have soft spot for Federer because his missis is so very ordinary and not WAG-gy. (love the way she sits with her big handbags getting sweets out and shovelling them down)

our tennis men are just such dull arses personality wise - Bates,Henman,Murray - I couldn't give a toss.

I have always, always loved John MacEnroe, used to drive my mother mad when he was being bratty teen (same age as me).

Am even more delighted he has turned out to be such a fab and articulate commentator.

Agree with MAS. What about 'Buster' Mottram, do you remember how ghastly he was.

"Buster" FFS- only a Brit at Wimbledon could possibly be called Buster...lol....
I'd forgotten Jeremy Bates as well....(convinced him and Jo Durie are actually the same person- look at those teeth)

Jeremy Bates - was trying to remember his name earlier. Gah.

Wasn't Mottram in the National Front? Yup.