Thanks Ghost.The Ghost of Alex Higgins wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2024 12:07 pm Great to see you back in here tm
Radders made a err rod for her own back by actually winning something. That lit a fire for a starved Brit audience - they immediately wanted to see ongoing domination a la Novak, Serena. Anything short of that gets jumped on.
Indeed. You've summed it up very well.
Plus, it seems that very few players then and now (maybe Rod Laver) have been or are universally liked. Even some disliked Federer because of his image (long trousers at Wimbledon etc). So with an achievement as amazing as ER's in NYC, the numbers for and against will have been magnified.
On the termination of Andrew Richardson, unless we knew what the deal was, it's difficult to make a definitive conclusion. Maybe, ER's dad and her liked him, respected his work but didn't see him as being central to the success. He had coached her before but she had used other coaches too through her junior days.
I never saw anything wrong with all the immediate post-tournament celebrations in NYC nor the time spent doing promotions and photo shoots for sponsors since. What was she supposed to do; fly back home immediately to Bromley and park herself in her bedroom? One thing I do know from my 14 years at DLL Raynes Park, all pros right to the top (Becker, Henman and lesser ranked spent time there) have many hours in a day to kill. They would rarely stay on the court for more than 2 hours. They might do a gym session on the same training day but not always and that means there is a lot of time hanging around clubs, courts or at home.
The biggest issue she has faced and still faces is physical fitness. She had experienced a history of injuries as a junior and many kids never make it through the teenage years of training as their bodies can't handle it.
On social media, it hasn't helped that numerous people other than her / her team, have set up accounts with her name in them. That has led to almost endless posts / photos of her with captions written by often, it seems, less than well-tennis educated people. These photos and captions have bought forth massive negativity and this is ironic as it's not ER doing the promotion.
In press interviews, she seems utterly charming to me but sometimes, she has said things which when not quoted in the full context, look bad (the one asking if it would have been better if she hadn't won the US Open, which was said with a smile, but was taken as serious, was one).
She can clearly play; she has a mature understanding of the game tactically. She needs to be on tour for a few years and gain experience while hopefully, not wrecking her body.