The Deuce Club, 10.21

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by Jackie Roe, TW Social Director

Evening, TWibe! Tonight's post was put together by one of our faves, the lovely Jewell. Enjoy:

In all the doom and gloom that floated across the 'net when Nadal lost to Florian Mayer, one type of comment that really struck me was “Really sucks to be a Rafa fan this year.” Hmm. I may well be insanely positive, I may well be in denial, but last time I looked, Rafa's results were actually quite decent over the whole year. Yes, there were some disappointing losses, particularly to Djokovic; yes, Djokovic surpassed him for the #1 ranking; yes, there were sucky moments (the loss at the AO wasn't my favourite Rafa moment ever, for sure). I suppose we're back in that Castle of the Monster of Expectation (it's a well-known chapter in that great book, The Tennis Player's Progress*) that Federer and his fans, for example, know only too well. 
 
Let's be realistic here. Being a Rafa fan really* doesn't suck on the whole. Lots of good things, past and present, to enjoy! Not all players and their fans can say the same. With that in mind (and with my tongue firmly in my cheek) I wanted to ask: Who does it really **suck to be a fan of, and why?

I asked that question on Twitter first, exempting Roger and Rafa both from the discussion for obvious reasons. The responses included Fernando Verdasco, Richard Gasquet, David Nalbandian, Jelena Jankovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Venus Williams, Kimiko Date Krumm, Peng Shuai, and, my personal favourite—doubles.

What do you think?

Many thanks for the write-up, Jewell! And what a fun topic. (Surprised no one mentioned Dinara Safina.) Actually, I'm convinced that we could make an argument for every player on both tours . . .

Remember to answer the "why" part, too, as it's not always obvious, or you might find that your experience as a fan of a certain player "sucks" in a different way from someone else's.** (Note: Not sure about Jewell's intent, but I’m fine with keeping Rog and Rafa in the mix. If they start to usurp all of the attention in the comments, we’ll give this another go, excluding them from the pool. Sound good?)

Have a great weekend, everyone!