Who is the friendliest tennis player in the world?

tahiti

Professional
Every tourney I have been to Nadal has nearly zero connection with the fans off the court, he comes to the practice courts like he is afraid of the fans and
and pretty much acts as if they do not exist after he is done practicing, there is no talk, and he does not look happy at all, Federer is slightly better in his interactions but not by much. Some of the best I have seen are Baghdatis, Haas, Safin, and even Roddick off the court, surprisingly all interact with the fans and are friendly.

We had a completely different experience with Nadal. He was friendly, talked and signed many autographs. But I can imagine he can appear to be afraid of fans. Have you seen the amount of people escorting him to the training court/court and off? At least where we were, 8 secuity guards. 4 on either side of him and necessary too. It was a complete and utter madhouse. :)
 

Bronc10is

Semi-Pro
I have been to the US Open 4 or 5 times in the last 7 years and I would have to say that Fernando Gonzalez was by far the coolest. Also, Mario Ancic and Ljubicic were really cool and hung out after their practice and talked a little bit. I am Israeli so I made an effort to talk to the Israelis and Andy Ram and Dudi Sela were awesome. Both signed autographs, took pictures, and Andy Ram had a conversation with me while we were watching one of Dudi's matches.
 
We had a completely different experience with Nadal. He was friendly, talked and signed many autographs. But I can imagine he can appear to be afraid of fans. Have you seen the amount of people escorting him to the training court/court and off? At least where we were, 8 secuity guards. 4 on either side of him and necessary too. It was a complete and utter madhouse. :)

If I had a group of obsessed yelling screaming punching tennis fans I'd be pretty scared too. The man is also only 22 and hardly gets by with his English. That combined with his shyness makes it pretty plausible he would avoid too much publicity.
 

halalula1234

Professional
i would like to have cakes,pies and fries with Marion Bartoli.

monica seles is anice person too
sharapova is only nice when the camera rolls. No camera she just ignores you.
 
Munich is a small tournament and a great place to meet players. Baghdatis was not only friendly, he put you at ease as well. Just a regular guy. I should have invited him for a beer, but thats a bad habit.

Kohlschreiber we didn't even recognize when we bumped into him and his trainer, just walking in the crowd. I didn't know who he was at the time and then I saw him play in the final.

And we ran into Stepanek and Hingis. Just hanging around with the crowd. Oddly enough few people seem to know who they were. They looked just like another happy couple of fans. We got their autographs on the same poster. Chatted with them for a couple of minutes. Again, just regular guys.

LT
 

P_Agony

Banned
I have been to the US Open 4 or 5 times in the last 7 years and I would have to say that Fernando Gonzalez was by far the coolest. Also, Mario Ancic and Ljubicic were really cool and hung out after their practice and talked a little bit. I am Israeli so I made an effort to talk to the Israelis and Andy Ram and Dudi Sela were awesome. Both signed autographs, took pictures, and Andy Ram had a conversation with me while we were watching one of Dudi's matches.

Nice to see another Israeli here.
 
friendly.......

Albert Costa
Baghdatis
Corretja
Robredo
Moya
Ferrer
Simon
Federer, if 1000 people arent around.
safin
djokovic
davydenko

not so friendly
james blake
Hewitt
Bruguera
f gonzalez
 

coolblue123

Hall of Fame
Sebastian Grosjean and Dmitry Tursunov. I got their autographs in Washington DC (Legg Mason). Very friendly folks.
 

jimwh

Rookie
From my personal experience, Caroline Wozniacki on the ladies side. John Isner and Robby Ginepri on the guys side.
 

diegaa

Hall of Fame
safin is a friendly dude, but is not THAT friendly.
Berdych, corretja, cañas and monaco are the most friendly players I've met.
 

diegaa

Hall of Fame
Have you met him? We did in Munchen last year and he was so charming with the crowd. Spent lots of time with people posing for pictures and just jamming.

yes, I did. It was in Madrid TMS '06. I even have a pic with him, which is posted in "your picture" thread in odds & ends. There weren't many people around so I guess he didn't want to put up his "I'm so cool" show.
 

Elina

Rookie
Of the players I've talked with, I have to say Wayne Ferreira. He was always ready to say something after a practice or a match. :)
 
G

Golden

Guest
I've heard Murray is very friendly to his fans, even a bit shy sometimes.
 

haqq777

Legend
We had a completely different experience with Nadal. He was friendly, talked and signed many autographs. But I can imagine he can appear to be afraid of fans. Have you seen the amount of people escorting him to the training court/court and off? At least where we were, 8 secuity guards. 4 on either side of him and necessary too. It was a complete and utter madhouse. :)

Absolutely. Same with me, had a very positive experience. Got an autograph but lines of fans and crowds in general are CRAZY! He's a very nice guy though always smiles and waits. Federer and Rafa's practices are always full and I mean FULL! These guys have fans everywhere they go. In all honesty Novak is getting there too. He entertains the crowd way more than Fed or Rafa who are more business-like in their practices.
 

tennisfan17

Professional
Matt Seeberger! I met him at the Waco Futures tournament and ended up eating dinner one night with his team and doubles partner. Super, super nice guy. He and i still talk as well which is cool! Further more, I can't remember where, but some thread here on TTW had a post talking about how friendly and nice Young St. Nick was off court. Can't remember which thread sadly.
 

Mr.Lob

G.O.A.T.
Maria Sharapova is the friendliest. Nice smile. Gives credit to her opponent. Answers questions respectfully. Gives all the profits from the sale of her delicious Sugarpova candies to charity.
 

jm1980

Talk Tennis Guru
Maria Sharapova is the friendliest. Nice smile. Gives credit to her opponent. Answers questions respectfully.
Out of all the already unfriendly characters in the WTA, Sharapova is probably the worst of them all. Does she even have any friends on tour? Even Serena has friends.

My favorite Sharapova shady moments:

Is her last name Jankovic? (master stroke: two digs for the price of one)


[Azarenka] was "extremely injured":


Honorable mention: "Isn't she back in Poland already?" (when asked about Radwanska's criticism of her grunting)
 
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Mr.Lob

G.O.A.T.
Out of all the already unfriendly characters in the WTA, Sharapova is probably the worst of them all. Does she even have any friends on tour? Even Serena has friends.

My favorite Sharapova shady moments:

Is her last name Jankovic? (master stroke: two digs for the price of one)


[Azarenka] was "extremely injured":


Honorable mention: "Isn't she back in Poland already?" (when asked about Radwanska's criticism of her grunting)

LOL. Razor sharp wit used for defensive purposes only. :p
 
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