Friends and enemies in the ATP
- Thread starter HughJars
- Start date
cluckcluck
Hall of Fame
Nadal dislikes Soderling and Rosol
Federer is loved by every player on the ATP and WTA.
Gulbis dislikes the top 4 because they're boring.
Federer is loved by every player on the ATP and WTA.
Gulbis dislikes the top 4 because they're boring.
beast of mallorca
G.O.A.T.
Nadal definitely loves his favorite lap dog..........:twisted:
Fed and Haas playing together in doubles this week. Of course, Fed loves Tsonga. He wants him to inherit his crown and even tried to set him up for success in France by playing horribly so not to tire him out against the roadrunner (didn't work).
Haas is also supposedly really close with Sharapova, and they practice together. And she's even closer to Dimitrov. And she's friendly with Novak for all those commercials. Funny how she likes hanging out with the guys but has few friends on the women's side.
Don't like each other:
Soderling (if he comes back) and Nadal
Berdych and Almagro (though I think Berdych rubs a lot of people wrong)
Haas is also supposedly really close with Sharapova, and they practice together. And she's even closer to Dimitrov. And she's friendly with Novak for all those commercials. Funny how she likes hanging out with the guys but has few friends on the women's side.
Don't like each other:
Soderling (if he comes back) and Nadal
Berdych and Almagro (though I think Berdych rubs a lot of people wrong)
14OuncesStrung
Professional
And what makes you think that?
cucio
Legend
I don't think there are many close friendships at the top 100 level (close meaning you would invite the guy to your wedding), the competition dynamics are probably too hard on personal relationships, even if they share a love for the sport, similar lifestyles and see each other very often.
Maybe Roddick and Fish.
Maybe Roddick and Fish.
Apun94
Hall of Fame
Dont think it's that way. He is respected, sure. Dont think he is close to anyone. Many players have said that Fed doesnt hangout with a lot of the other players. Sort of keeps a distance. Not trying to imply anything...
Your amount of BS is unbelievable. Fed is fairly close with lots of players. James Blake used to say they are good friends. He was also a good friend to Roodick, and he's a friend of Haas and Tsonga. I don't think any 2 top players (as it top 30) are great friends though, because its impossible to be a great friend one day and the next day keep your distance cause you gotta beat him on court.
Nadal is good friends with Juan Monaco, Marc Lopez and Nalbandian
Nadal and Murray are friends
Murray and Djokovic are friends, they trained together as juniors and flew up the rankings together
Tsonga and Monfils
Roddick and Fish used to live together I think
The serbs (Djokovic, Troicki, Tipsarevic, Zimonic) are all close
Federer is friends with Hewitt, Roddick, Haas, Cilic
And for the enemies:
Federer used to hate Novak because of the gamesmanship he used to pull, he probably respects him more now
Berdych and Almagro obviously
Soderling and Nadal
Murray and Delpo
Nadal and Murray are friends
Murray and Djokovic are friends, they trained together as juniors and flew up the rankings together
Tsonga and Monfils
Roddick and Fish used to live together I think
The serbs (Djokovic, Troicki, Tipsarevic, Zimonic) are all close
Federer is friends with Hewitt, Roddick, Haas, Cilic
And for the enemies:
Federer used to hate Novak because of the gamesmanship he used to pull, he probably respects him more now
Berdych and Almagro obviously
Soderling and Nadal
Murray and Delpo
I never heard about Safin and Hewitt. But I know that Gulbis and Safin were friends. 2 peas in a pod even though Gulbis was quite a bit younger.
They used to hang out in South Beach
Last edited:
These kinds of threads always get hung up on the definition of "friends" - does that mean two people who get along when they happen to meet, or does it imply seeking out each other's company?
Fed and Roddick always had a friendly locker-room relationship for example, but never socialized together. Meanwhile, Fed and Haas are genuinely friends; there are a gazillion paparazzi pics of them out socializing together with their wives etc.
Different animal.
Completely inaccurate. Fed shares his physio with Stan, because Feds far richer. fed also was asked to carry the flag at the Olympics and suggested Stan instead.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
Federer and Cilic are friends? I never knew that...got a source?
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
All the Americans are good friends - Roddick, Fish, Isner, Querrey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83VteldaEHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83VteldaEHE
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
Federer and Roddick are pretty good friends despite their h2h. Roddick en general is a very likeable guy. Some umpires could disagree, though.
Apun94
Hall of Fame
There have been several players who have said that Fed stays with his own team and doesnt interact with a lot of players. (once again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Maybe that's his personality and that's fine by me) I am sure Janowicz was also one who said that.
I seriously dont know where you got the info about Tsonga and Haas being good friends with Fed. Yes Fed seems to like them but I dont know if he hangs out with them outside the court.
cc0509
Talk Tennis Guru
Federer and Mirka definitely hang out with Haas and his girlfriend Sara Foster off court. Tons of pics to back this up. Here is a recent one:
https://www.facebook.com/MatchPointTheWorldOfTennis/posts/425113930918295
They had a bit of a spat during a match years ago, but have long since kissed and made up and both admitted they over-reacted.
I'm not sure any of the players are truly great friends with their close rivals, but a lot of them definitely get on. Often they are put together as they share sponsors, but unless you are psychotic, you'll want to be friendly and have fun with the people you spend time with.
I'm not sure any of the players are truly great friends with their close rivals, but a lot of them definitely get on. Often they are put together as they share sponsors, but unless you are psychotic, you'll want to be friendly and have fun with the people you spend time with.
Last edited:
Sorana fan
Banned
Hmmmm Haas' gf seems nicer than milka
cc0509
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes, Sara Foster is very pretty. She is a model/actress.
Gonzalito17
Banned
Enemies----
Coria and Gaudio - still won't play exos together.
Roddick and Djokovic. Roddick and Nishikori - Roddick bullied him in San Jose.
Hewitt and several of the Argentines.
Friends ---
Hewitt and Delpo.
Fed and Stan practiced together recently in Rome.
Kuznetsov and Cibulkova.
Blake and Fish.
Isner and Querrey.
All the Serbians are friends.
Berankis and Fed.
Blake and Fed.
Nadal and Monaco, Marc Lopez.
Haas and Fed.
Isner and Monaco.
Coria and Gaudio - still won't play exos together.
Roddick and Djokovic. Roddick and Nishikori - Roddick bullied him in San Jose.
Hewitt and several of the Argentines.
Friends ---
Hewitt and Delpo.
Fed and Stan practiced together recently in Rome.
Kuznetsov and Cibulkova.
Blake and Fish.
Isner and Querrey.
All the Serbians are friends.
Berankis and Fed.
Blake and Fed.
Nadal and Monaco, Marc Lopez.
Haas and Fed.
Isner and Monaco.
Hey, that's not cool :-? Have lost a bit of respect for him after reading about that.
J
JRAJ1988
Guest
Sampras and Rafter did not like each other after Rafter won the US Open in 1997.
HughJars
Banned
How is it humanly possibly to not like Rafter?
From reading Agassi's autobiography, he dissed a lot of players (such as Conners who seems like a complete twat), but as much as he tried he could not hate Rafter. I think they were pretty good pals.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
It got much more intense in the summer of 1998 after Rafter beat Sampras in the Cincinnati final and the US Open semi final. Definitely the most openly rattled that Sampras has ever been by a tennis rival.
In terms of "off court" Fed tends to hang with guys who are a bit older and are settled in their personal lives with wives/girlfriends. As was mentioned Haas seems his current ATP BFF, previous ones were Henman and Ljubicic. Ljuby's wife and Mirka got along well so there was a lot of "double-dating" there too, like the pics w/ the Haas couple.
NEW_BORN
Hall of Fame
On the surface it may appear that way, but to me the best indication of whether 2 players are friends is how they come together at the net after the match.
You'll find that when Federer plays a "friend" (Tsonga or Haas), there is genuine warmth and appreciation at the net after the match, whereas when he plays Wawrinka, it's subtle but there is definite awkwardness between the two, even a certain amount of bitterness from Stan.
Just because 2 people are from the same country, and share the same physio (Paganini), doesn't mean they must get along.
You're right about Fed/Wawa at net but that doesn't mean they don't get along. Fed has said Wawa's told him he finds it emotionally difficult to play him and it's obvious that Wawa get mad at himself for blowing opportunities during the match as is often the case.
Fed and Wawa practice together alot though and have had close ties for many years. I remember once several years ago Wawa was out injured for a while and was asked by a reporter whether he'd "heard from Fed" during his time away. He laughed and answered that "Roger calls me every day - sometimes more than once!"
Here they are fooling around together:
Mainad
Bionic Poster
When Sampras was asked what the difference was between him and Rafter, didn't he reply: "About 10 Slams!"
HughJars
Banned
Read an article today about Fed playing doubles with Tommy Haas and talking about his close friendship with Stefan Koubek.
Quote "I hope he's just a friend and he's not flirting with my wife" Federer laughed. "Otherwise I'll take care of him later on (laugh).....he's one of my best friends on tour"
Quote "I hope he's just a friend and he's not flirting with my wife" Federer laughed. "Otherwise I'll take care of him later on (laugh).....he's one of my best friends on tour"
That's very ignorant. If you actually read what I wrote. Fed was asked to carry the flag, and instead asked for his friend Stan to carry the flag. Stan was supremely honored to carry the flag. Fed sharing his wealth with his friend to help defray Stan's tour costs is thoughtful. I don't get how you dismiss those actions.
Serena has a lot of issues with the players, including the umpires.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
When Sampras was asked what the difference was between him and Rafter, didn't he reply: "About 10 Slams!"
Yes. That was after the 1998 Cincinnati final. At the time, Sampras had 11 majors and Rafter had 1 major.
HughJars
Banned
Why didnt they get along? How could Rafter upset anyone?
Saw them practice a few times in Indian Wells and they seemed like they were great buddies...walked on and off together and joked around a lot during the breaks.
Gonzalito17
Banned
Wowrinka and Paire are close mates too.
Gonzalito17
Banned
Saw Rafter and Pete talking on court during practice before they played the exo at Madison Sq Garden last Nov. The hatched is buried.
Gonzalito17
Banned
It seems Gimelstob is very close with Fish, and good friends with Haas and Roddick.
Serena has a right to be disgusted with the umpires. That doesn't excuse her tirades, she deserved to get trashed for those, but she was obviously not in control over her emotions, and if she couldn't get past previous issues against her that's her fault. She seems to be in a better place now, and is playing with calm.
Serena never said she was Sloan's mentor, in fact she contradicted that. Serena also rose above all of Sloan's drama by ignoring it. Serena has matured.
Quite frankly, Serena's BFF has always been her sister, and they stayed together during times they were competing. I'm not sure how many other top players could handle playing a sibling.
NEW_BORN
Hall of Fame
Look i just don't share the same opinion as you.
In fact, i see Federer as Swiss German and Wawrinka as Swiss French.
Let's leave it at that.
I think that's a total cop out, but hey, ignoring what I said and deflecting seems to be what you were aiming at. I'm not the only one that rebutted your comments regarding Fed and Stan.
Mustard
Bionic Poster
It was a few things. Sampras went into the 1997 US Open as the overwhelming favourite, but lost to Korda in the Round of 16. After Rafter won the 1997 US Open, many saw him as some lucky "one slam wonder", particularly John McEnroe, and Sampras produced a brilliant performance to beat Rafter in Davis Cup soon after. Sampras was clearly annoyed not to have won that 1997 US Open, having been in such good form beforehand, but admitted that Korda had played a brilliant match on the day.
Fast forward to the North American summer of 1998 when Rafter and Sampras meet in the 1998 Cincinnati final, and Rafter wins 1-6, 7-6, 6-4, and there's a controversial call right at the end of the match. Sampras was very annoyed and let his feelings known. Sampras later made his "10 Grand Slams" comment to describe the difference between himself and Rafter. Rafter accused Sampras of showing a lack of respect, and said something to the affect of "that's why I try to p*ss him off as much as I can".
They then met in the 1998 US Open semi finals, a big match. Sampras was leading 2 sets to 1 but Rafter doing well in the fourth set, when Sampras got injured, and Rafter won in 5 sets, and went on to win his second US Open title. Sampras was rumoured to have said soon afterwards "Seeing Rafter with the US Open trophy makes me feel sick".
Fast forward to 1999, and both Sampras and Rafter say that they have patched up their differences, and the former hostile air between them had gone. They seem to have gotten on ever since. I remember the rivalry because Sampras had never been so openly rattled by a tennis rival like he was by Rafter during that North American summer of 1998. Guys like Agassi, Becker and Ivanisevic never rattled him that much.
Last edited:
Similar threads
