DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Pam Shriver: Williams gets no love at French Open

**RicyReetred** · 05-29-2009, 04:05 PM

Also, there is another aspect of this French thing. The French are big fans of finesse tennis. That is why they like Federer. If you watch the French players with the exception Monfis (I can't spell his name), they play like swashbucklers with smooth strokes and panache.

The French fans hate brute force players (thus the reason Nadal is not appreciated). I don't think they like Sharapova's game either. That is another layer to the whole thing as well.

I think this statement applies to the women more than men. The French loved Evert and Graf and certainly preferred Henin over her contemporaries, including Serena. It also explains their love for Mauresmo despite her disastrous results there. The French simply do not appreciate brute force when it comes to the women, and the likes of Navritilova, Serena and Sharapova will never be French favorites.

When it comes to the men, they enjoy the showman quality in a player more than anything else. I think that explains their love for the likes of Noah, Roddick, Tsonga.

I'm not sure they love Rafa any less than Fed. There might be more sympathy for Fed since he's turned into Rafa's whipping boy at the French.

05-29-2009, 04:05 PM	#28
RicyReetred Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 577 Senior Member	Also, there is another aspect of this French thing. The French are big fans of finesse tennis. That is why they like Federer. If you watch the French players with the exception Monfis (I can't spell his name), they play like swashbucklers with smooth strokes and panache. The French fans hate brute force players (thus the reason Nadal is not appreciated). I don't think they like Sharapova's game either. That is another layer to the whole thing as well. I think this statement applies to the women more than men. The French loved Evert and Graf and certainly preferred Henin over her contemporaries, including Serena. It also explains their love for Mauresmo despite her disastrous results there. The French simply do not appreciate brute force when it comes to the women, and the likes of Navritilova, Serena and Sharapova will never be French favorites. When it comes to the men, they enjoy the showman quality in a player more than anything else. I think that explains their love for the likes of Noah, Roddick, Tsonga. I'm not sure they love Rafa any less than Fed. There might be more sympathy for Fed since he's turned into Rafa's whipping boy at the French.
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