Was the NY crowd partisan to either player yesterday?

runner_up

New User
Was the NY crowd partisan to either player yesterday?
From what I saw on TV, I didn't think so, but wanted to hear from someone who was there.
I'm sure if Federer had played, he would have received more love, but between Nadal and Djokovic, I'm wondering if the NY crowd prefer one over the other.
 

Ledigs

Legend
I don't think so. They were giving Novak a lot of support, chanting his name several times, but there were many Rafa cheers as well. Huge roar when Rafa was about to win too. We liked both players :)
 

runner_up

New User
I don't think so. They were giving Novak a lot of support, chanting his name several times, but there were many Rafa cheers as well. Huge roar when Rafa was about to win too. We liked both players :)

That's good to hear. I admire the NY crowd's ability to forgive the past and cheer for new champions. Think about the way the crowd reacted to Djokovic after his post-match interview after the Roddick game just two years ago, but it looks like Novak has gained back a lot of fans in NY. I hope the Parisian crowd would change too. I'm a Federer fan, but I think the way the Parisian crowd treats Nadal, after all these years, is unfair.
 

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
"Disagree. i was there and heard many stadium wide chants of Novak Novak!"

Nuh uh. What you heard were pockets of Serbian fans like the 5 jerks in section 311-312 that between them may have consumed 45 beers. Combined with the fact that the fans almost always root for a longer match at some point. That was a strongly pro-Nadal crowd.
 

Ledigs

Legend
"Disagree. i was there and heard many stadium wide chants of Novak Novak!"

Nuh uh. What you heard were pockets of Serbian fans like the 5 jerks in section 311-312 that between them may have consumed 45 beers. Combined with the fact that the fans almost always root for a longer match at some point. That was a strongly pro-Nadal crowd.

I know what i heard. I was there the whole time

Also, do Serbian ticketholders not count?
 

aldeayeah

G.O.A.T.
My impression from TV was: The public cheered louder when they said Nadal's name. Halfway through the first set they started cheering more for Djokovic, probably because they wanted an epic match.
 

random1

Rookie
"Disagree. i was there and heard many stadium wide chants of Novak Novak!"

Nuh uh. What you heard were pockets of Serbian fans like the 5 jerks in section 311-312 that between them may have consumed 45 beers. Combined with the fact that the fans almost always root for a longer match at some point. That was a strongly pro-Nadal crowd.

Agreed - there were a couple of chants started by some Nole fans, though a couple of times, some Novak/Nole chants were almost as loud as the Rafa chants, but it seemed like it was late match sympathy.

Also, I was sitting near the a$$hole who yelled "Vamos Rafa" before nearly every one of Djoko's second serves. The umpire finally specifically mentioned the distraction between serves, and he stopped.

That said, they both had solid support and Djoko has won back a large part of the support he lost over his Roddick rant a couple of years ago.
 

Ledigs

Legend
Agreed - there were a couple of chants started by some Nole fans, though a couple of times, some Novak/Nole chants were almost as loud as the Rafa chants, but it seemed like it was late match sympathy.

Also, I was sitting near the a$$hole who yelled "Vamos Rafa" before nearly every one of Djoko's second serves. The umpire finally specifically mentioned the distraction between serves, and he stopped.

That said, they both had solid support and Djoko has won back a large part of the support he lost over his Roddick rant a couple of years ago.

why didn't you say something to the guY??
 
I watched it on tv.

I thought I was hearing them chant
Nol-lay Nole Nole Nolayyyy...Nole...No-o-lay.

But it was on the Fox Soccer Channel.

They were saying Ole ole ole ole...ole...ole!

Plenty of fans for both. But the swingvotes were for Rafa, except when they wanted a longer match.
 

ruerooo

Legend
I did, he didn't give a ****, but he did stop when the umpire finally said something. If the beer lines were shorter, I might have ended up on a Youtube fight clip:)

I think we're all glad that didn't happen. They would have had to stop the match to take you two out of there.

I was just glad the Nole fans around me didn't get any more drunk. They weren't that much louder than the Gonzalez fans doing "Chile, Chile" after every point last year, I don't think.

"Nole"/"Rafa" doesn't seem to blend as well as "Roger"/"Rafa" either.
There was a weird rebound echo effect.
 

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
"Also, do Serbian ticketholders not count?"

Of course they do. But there may have been maybe 100 in a crowd of 18,000 or so (guesstimating Ashe around 80% filled) ?

So we'll agree to disagree at this point as to whether the crowd favored one player or the other.

As for Nole winning back the NY fans. He never lost them as far as I could tell. The phony contrived "Roddick controversy" manufactured by the press was a non-event by the next year.

I think I missed one match (his loss to Hewitt) since he first played in the main draw in 2005 and also have seen many of his practice sessions. He's always been very popular with the NY crowd because he's very personable and he plays to the crowd (during practices).

He shows up for Kids Day, even picking up the microphone for a song. He sticks around (much like Nadal) and signs more then the obligatory amount of autographs for kids after practice sessions.

I would say his match with Stepanek in 2007 made him a lot of fans in NY. Anyone that thought before the Fed match that he lacked heart did not see that match (or, for that matter, his five set loss to Verdasco in 2005). He's always had heart. Yes, in the past he's used the injury rule almost (or past) the breaking point and sometimes has physical issues, but he's always had heart.

But he happened to be playing Nadal. A huge fan favorite.
 
Top