ForehandCross
G.O.A.T.
Have you guys met any pro players ?
Met a lot. Most are nice, but some are not very friendly to fans because they don't like the limelight.
Can't say any of them come off as particularly bright. I reckon intelligence is a bit of a handicap in tennis, the dim ones perform better under pressure because they find it easier to shut down their brains and focus on the task at hand.
Nice! That is some experience in meeting some of these players.I've been very lucky to have a media pass in Abu Dhabi for a few years and have seen all the players in the press conference - Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Wawrinka, Tsonga, Berdych, Raonic, Shapovalov, Almagro, Soderling, Ferrer, Bagdhatis, etc. I've also been to Doha a couple of times and seen Monfils there among others. Rafa and Novak look much taller than they look on TV. Being a Rafa fan, I was aprehensive that the reality might not meet my expectations but it exceeded it. They are all very polite and Stan and Tsonga are quietly spoken. I saw Tsonga's wife when she was pregnant and I saw Srjdan with Stefan once. I haven't seen Rafa's family or his team close up only across the court in his box.
Before I went to the press conference, I thought hard about what to ask the players, so I asked Rafa whether they should have unlimited challenges for line calls instead of being limited to 3 incorrect ones and he said he though 3 was OK.
To me, he just comes across as very....professional or business like. That can be very off putting to many people as it isn't very "warm". But, I didn't mind it. Courier was much that way too but maybe a little warmer. Chang is pretty personable. Isner was like Chang, imo. They all have an edge of guardedness that probably comes with fame....NOT NICE: Andy Roddick...
Have close friends who have met Nadal, Isner, Fritz, and Tiafoe (reports below):
Rafa was super nice and polite
Isner same, was quiet
Fritz was a little bit of a jerk, seemed entitled
Tiafoe as nice as could be, totally down to earth
I've met many as juniors. Will meet more juniors in a month but who knows who'll turn pro at this point. Most are good kids, a few who are arrogant little ummm (well, fill in the last word). Typical of this age *shrug*. I did have an interesting very brief talk with Jack Sock after he won a match (sf I believe) and he was still harping on about an extremely close line call he thought was out. I explained something to the effect of, "It's moot now. You won."Have you guys met any pro players ?
Verdasco is an a**hole. He comes across as someone who thinks very highly of himself.Have you guys met any pro players ?
I see Paradorn Srichapan quite often as he gives private tennis lessons sometimes at my club. I never approached him though as I am on the shy side but he seems like a very friendly guy.
Roddick and Serena are both people who are deliberately cruel to umpires, which I always feel is a telltale sign of which tennis players are definitely not nice.To me, he just comes across as very....professional or business like. That can be very off putting to many people as it isn't very "warm". But, I didn't mind it. Courier was much that way too but maybe a little warmer. Chang is pretty personable. Isner was like Chang, imo. They all have an edge of guardedness that probably comes with fame.
Have you guys met any pro players ?
Sure. What do yo think? Especially as I had a Rafa cap on.Did you tell Srdjan how you bash his son every chance you get on a tennis forum?
What a frikkin' great tennis player!I see Paradorn Srichapan quite often as he gives private tennis lessons sometimes at my club. I never approached him though as I am on the shy side but he seems like a very friendly guy.
Have you guys met any pro players ?
Have you guys met any pro players ?
I think he's been coming in my telly commentary and sounded quite chirpy. Was laughing a lot. Gave me the impression that he's a nice guy, but you can never tell.Feliciano Lopez was an a**
Have you guys met any pro players ?
My cousin (who introduced me to tennis) met Randy twice, one in Cincy and the other one in USO; I don't remember which year. He said Randy were not nice at all both times, kinda rude to fans when they asked (kindly) for autographs. For this reason, as a Fed fan he was absolutely high and never forgot to say "Andy Roddick is a rotten d*ck" whenever Fed thrashed Randy.My friend was a high-level amateur player and so knew lots of people on and involved with the tour.
He said most were nice. Two who were decidedly NOT NICE: Andy Roddick and Serena Williams.
Nope.
But even so I can say what's a fun hobby to us is their job.
I'd be fine with a pro player ignoring me for an autograph. I'd rather see them be fair on court and treat each other with respect
Saying someone is generally polite/arrogant/warm/unkind/etc after one brief meeting can be very confusing.
Arrogant people can be very kind sometimes.
Warm people can be very cocky sometimes.
Attributional bias is very popular.
I’ve never met him but I know several folks who have and they have said exactly the opposite. Completely authentic. Asks a lot of questions about you and your life as he loves to learn about others and doesn’t want the conversation centered on himself. Very down to Earth behind the scenes.Djokovic is even more fake in person.
My coach gets coaching credentials at Indian Wells every year as he is friends with many lower-ranked Russian players and this gives him access to the locker rooms, workout rooms etc. He has stories about all the players from meeting them for more than 10 years during the IW Masters tournament. I asked him recently about the Big 3 and he told me the following:
- Federer is polite and will sign autographs/take pictures, but otherwise has no interest in gettting to know my coach even though he has seen him every year for a decade.
- Nadal will stop and chat with him and usually it is serious conversations about working out or other topics. Nadal also will often play two rounds of golf in the morning when he has matches at night. It seems that he is an obsessive golf enthusiast.
- Djokovic seems to deserve his nickname ‘Djoker’ as my coach says he is warm and friendly and jokes around with him and other people all the time. He seems to have a genuine interest in getting to know my coach - I asked my coach if Djokovic speaks Russian as I was wondering if there was some affinity from being able to speak in my coach’s first language, but that was not the case. I also heard a very funny story about how Nole reacted when he couldn’t find his car in the IW parking lot.
Second-hand stories from how they behave when they are on a ‘business trip‘ - might not reflect how they are in their private lives.