Who will you support after your favourite player retires?

The day Feds retires, make sure I'm not anywhere near a bridge!

Well, not quite but it will be a verryyyy sad day. He got me into this sport (not personally ) that I now love. 11 years of die-hard ott passionate support.

Last year I thought this could be his last and I'm very happy it isn't. However there will come a time when he moves on from the sport and I will have to found the next Feds or perhaps just settle for someone who I like but not nearly as much.
You don't move on from a football team, unless you're a fair-weather fan. Over a lifetime of support perhaps you will support a half a dozen or so players but some standing out more than most.

I really like Goffin, dolgo, gulbis, stan and Brown. Of these lot only Goffin is "young" at 23.
These are all players I like but don't hold a candle to TMF.
THis day will come but I hope it stays away for quite some time yet!

Who will you support when your player retires? A similar player to the current one? Or some other reason?

I will make a point of not supporting another player once Sir Andrew retires and therefore might live longer that way. It'll probably end up with me having a bunch of favourites who I want to win and a bunch of players I don't want to win. That's how I watch snooker these days.

Many different things can endear you to a player and sometimes it takes years for a player to grow on you. Of course for staunch fans of Roger, Rafa or Andy (of which there are many on this forum) nobody will replace those players in the forseeable future but who knows what the next few years will bring? I will probably leap from player to player match-by-match and won't have one single player I can associate with but who knows what young starlet is just around the corner.

I dont really know really, I dont often claim a support for anyone, it just sort of happens one day. Be it a good match or some sympathy after a close final loss, thats often more important to me than how they play, all styles are pretty watch-able to me.

Who do you support at present?

well its tough ... in terms of elite players I used to be a staunch Murray Rafa Fan, and wasnt what youd term a fan of others, though I still enjoyed them. Nowadays its tricky, I like most players, though after the Wimby Final ive really grown to Novak a lot more, it brought a tear to my eye even. Outside the big guys its all about the Nish at the mo!

Well, my main support currently goes to a player because of several slam final losses so I'd probably support any other player in a similar position. I always root for Benneteau for example. So my main support goes to losers, which isn't a good position to put yourself in really! But I also like to see the best players win, so am happy to watch Serena & Federer in full flight, but don't care so much if they lose.

I like JJ, i like Nish, and I want Dimitrov to do well so that I can root against him. Although he is not really pompous and unlikeable yet I am hoping for that to change once and if he wins a couple of slams.

socal1976 wrote:I like JJ, i like Nish, and I want Dimitrov to do well so that I can root against him. Although he is not really pompous and unlikeable yet I am hoping for that to change once and if he wins a couple of slams.

Really? Can I ask why? Or is it one of those "I like him and I have no idea why" things?

Ideally, I'd like to not 'support' anyone and just enjoy tennis in its own right. The road of supporting a player takes too many detours through agony for my liking.

I didn't actually choose in any conscious way to follow Novak. It gradually crept up on me and I suddenly realised that I was caring about his results. But I don't like it that I do that and I make deliberate efforts to not go overboard. It feels a bit degrading to invest emotionally in a stranger who has absolutely no idea that I exist, but I can't quite kick the habit!

My favourite players have already retired. I suppose I went for Murray because he was a Brit and I liked his game (more when he was younger), but not to the extent that I was a Tim fan. C'mon Tim!

I think as I've gotten older I've moved away investing too much in any player - it doesn't hold the same attraction.

Cant blame you who could ever give the same tension as Tim "get your bloody first serve in!" Henman

temporary21 wrote:Cant blame you who could ever give the same tension as Tim "get your bloody first serve in!" Henman

No-one, not even Andy "get your bloody second serve over 70mph" Murray.

The Special Juan wrote:

socal1976 wrote:I like JJ, i like Nish, and I want Dimitrov to do well so that I can root against him. Although he is not really pompous and unlikeable yet I am hoping for that to change once and if he wins a couple of slams.

Really?  Can I ask why?  Or is it one of those "I like him and I have no idea why" things?

He is kind of a jerk, but I like his all out attack game. Like the way he moves for a big man and the cheeky drop shots and huge flat forehand.

My biggest fear is that there will be no one worth disliking and rooting against once Federer retires.

socal1976 wrote:My biggest fear is that there will be no one worth disliking and rooting against once Federer retires.

I imagine that you will have conflicting emotions when Federer calls it a day.

Pleased he is gone but, as there is no longer any chance of him losing, your main source of pleasure will be gone too!

I like JJ's arrogance... sort of. It gives you an obvious pantomime villain in a match, which can make even the dullest of servathons a compelling watch

HM Murdoch wrote:

socal1976 wrote:My biggest fear is that there will be no one worth disliking and rooting against once Federer retires.

I imagine that you will have conflicting emotions when Federer calls it a day.

Pleased he is gone but, as there is no longer any chance of him losing, your main source of pleasure will be gone too!

There won't be any mixed emotions. I will be depressed. I want Federer to play till he 75 and losing to WTA juniors.

temporary21 wrote:I like JJ's arrogance... sort of. It gives you an obvious pantomime villain in a match, which can make even the dullest of servathons a compelling watch

That is part of it, he has a little bit of the Connors villain appeal yet without Connors' greatness.

Nobody.

When Rafa retires, I'm going to stop watching tennis and start watching poker.

I am more of a partisan supporter. I followed Henman and follow Murray. It's actually been great to see some home talent compete at big tournaments. As you can imagine the 80's for British Tennis was brutal. I found solace in the likes of Becker, McEnroe and Edberg, yet I wanted so much for British Tennis. I think it is easier to buy into an establishment, rather than individuals.

Watson and Robson unfortunately through injury and form are not delivering on their early promise just yet, but there is time so I won't shut the door on them entirely.

Had high hopes for Golding and again injury hit him and he has fallen off the radar. Edmund is coming along nicely, so I have a little glimmer of hope he can do something in the future once Murray departs the scene.

What age do you see him getting to the stage when you can actually support him as he is a long way off a tv coverage ranking, if you catch ma drift.

Whoever plays with great variety and attacking tennis, doesn't bore me to death and has something extra special in their repertoire.

Same criteria I had that made me like Federer.

I don't really know. I mean I liked Safin, then Nadal came along. I also like Monfils and Verdasco. So I guess its all about aesthetics for me. Safin was the leaping backhand. Nadal and Verdasco was the left handed single bend forehand (much like my own... well, if only in mechanics). Like Nadal I also have very fidgety mannerisms when playing sports, which made him easy to identify
Monfils was his vertical leap playing shots he really didn't need to.

So I guess I'll wait till I see that player who does something that makes me sit back. Closest at the moment is Grigor, but that's because he overachived on the feminine front, and has a bunch of weird supporters. I actually like Kyrgios as well, but hes personality isn't appealing to me. Simply put, if I can find a super athlete I'm sold.

So heading more towards a guy who has insane athletic ability than shot making ability?

I will start following golf and poker more closely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwEooZFhGBc

haha! Great video!

IMBL - haha I saw that one, I preferred the helicopter pilot one more though. This one isn't too bad, but that one literally made me lol.

LS - Yeah, in all sports I tend to support the athlete. Though I'm not sure any of the guys I mentioned lack shot making ability, just that for me, seeing a guy flat out sprint to a ball he shouldn't get to, make a play on it and get back in it, is a more enjoyable aspect of the game for me*

*Within reason.

Rafa has gone up in my estimations after those 2 vids ta!

Well bugger me with a fish fork!
Dimi you may have future fan potentially. Yoda: "Honoured you must be!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8jdyeoPKuk&feature=share

Those are two awesome shots from Dimi. How big were the two forehands from Sock as well? Good win for Grigor as well.

HM Murdoch wrote:Ideally, I'd like to not 'support' anyone and just enjoy tennis in its own right. The road of supporting a player takes too many detours through agony for my liking.

I didn't actually choose in any conscious way to follow Novak. It gradually crept up on me and I suddenly realised that I was caring about his results. But I don't like it that I do that and I make deliberate efforts to not go overboard. It feels a bit degrading to invest emotionally in a stranger who has absolutely no idea that I exist, but I can't quite kick the habit!

Yeah, unfortunately sums it up for me too...I would be so happy to support Murray, though, as Sly Sports is so (understandably and rightly) biased towards him and it would offer me some comfort with the wave of positive outlooks whenever he lost.

I like Dimi, Dolgo, Ninja, Goffin, Kyrgios, Raonic.

Problem is, I don't feel the same about them as i do/did for Fed, Ivanisevic, Sampras, Edberg etc etc.

Probably will give up being a big fan of a single player, and just enjoy and hope the younger generation can give us some excitement after the old guard finally goes home.

Roger. As I'm assuming he'll still be playing long after Andy retires

Seriously, I'm a big fan of Nishikori - I'm a sucker for all court all action players. Dimitrov as well

If Dolgo and Goffin could actually finally grow up, then they are welcome as well

Raonic and Kyrgios with their Berdych cloned games are not!!

Right now, after Murray, I'm really not sure. I don't see anyone with the skill and variety and basically ability to make the opponent look silly that first attracte me to Andy (though TBH if I started watching today I'm not even sure I'd support Murray). Nishikori has a pleasant enough game to watch, at least he has a BH that can do some damage: the singular over-reliance of most players on the FH as an attacking weapon today really bugs me, but there's no real exciting X-factor there either.

I honestly think one the current top players retire I might drift away a bit and watch less tennis until someone exciting emerges.

legendkillarV2 wrote:I am more of a partisan supporter. I followed Henman and follow Murray. It's actually been great to see some home talent compete at big tournaments. As you can imagine the 80's for British Tennis was brutal. I found solace in the likes of Becker, McEnroe and Edberg, yet I wanted so much for British Tennis. I think it is easier to buy into an establishment, rather than individuals.

Watson and Robson unfortunately through injury and form are not delivering on their early promise just yet, but there is time so I won't shut the door on them entirely.

Had high hopes for Golding and again injury hit him and he has fallen off the radar. Edmund is coming along nicely, so I have a little glimmer of hope he can do something in the future once Murray departs the scene.

I often wish that the forum had ‘like’ buttons as this is completely my viewpoint also. Good to see Ward qualifying for the odd ATP tournament. I realise he’s never going to contend for the bigger prizes but good to see him nudging up towards the top100.
What’s happened to Evans?

Evans is injured I think. He had apparently been playing with an injury (can't recall what it was) for some time.

I like that Australian lad who beat Nadal. Where is he?

He might show up in Paris Masters, next week.

One thing is for sure, when we lose Federer / Nadal / Djokovic and Murray, we will be truly at the end of an era. While another generation is always just around the corner, i really think the game will struggle to replace this lot. They have produced so many epic matches between them across all surfaces, going to be a sad day when they gone.

While parts of their games are similar, they all have such different personalities and bring such intensity to their games. Can see ratings falling big time when they hang up the rackets. Its weird but i can hardly imagine tennis without them, so long has been their dominance.

I have to say that one player I really miss is Nalbandian. There was something so natural about his game, phenomenal ball striker and could hit such incredible angles off both sides. I will never forget his run of form at the tail end of the season, i think 2009 or 2010 where he won in Paris and i think Madrid. Some of the most breathtaking tennis i have ever witnessed.

When he turned up, boy could that guy play and make others look so average. Come back Nalbandian !!

Nalbandaian I think that double was in 2007... good times

I loved nalby, imo the 2nd most talented player after feds going back to when i got into the sport in 03.
That Paris Madrid double of 07 was crazy. He beat feds and nadal back to back. Also beating delpo, djoko, berdych, gasquet, ferrer, moya.
He lost just 7 games to rafa in 4 sets! Nadal said that nalby's bh was the shot he most feared!

Commentator: "Nalbandian playing tennis from another planet".

Agree with Slasher and LS. Nalby was always one of my favourite players to watch. Incredible shot maker. That BH is the only truly beautiful DHBH and imo the best DHBH that I've ever watched.

My fav player is Nadal and I will support Roger Federer after Rafa retires.

emancipator wrote:Commentator: "Nalbandian playing tennis from another planet".

Agree with Slasher and LS. Nalby was always one of my favourite players to watch. Incredible shot maker. That BH is the only truly beautiful DHBH and imo the best DHBH that I've ever watched.

In my view he was the only player to trouble a peak Fed on all surfaces on any event when playing his best. I have seen Fed get frustrated with no idea how to counter Nalby, on the other hand Nalby was owned by Roddick, it shows Nalby only had interest to play the very best players compared to normal tennis players.

He wasn't owned by him. They played 6 times from '02-'10. 4-2 to roddick.

emancipator wrote:That BH is the only truly beautiful DHBH

+1

Nalby's BH is the only double hander that I ever truly enjoyed watching.  I am not sure it was the best DHBH I have seen, but I have never found any other DHBH as aesthetically pleasing, so to speak.

Regarding the initial question, once Fed retires I will likely support Dimi, though it will be very lukewarm support compared to how I root for Fed.  And, as always, I will keep hoping for someone else as fascinating as Fed to come along.

The nalbandian backhand, unreal

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6XBdNRP2J9k