Cheryl, I didn't see Uncle Miguel. I only saw Uncle Toni, Papa Nadal, Anna Maria (Rafa's kid sister), Carlos Costa and Rafael Maymo.

LOL @ the Nadals wearing matching Rafa gear. It would be especially funny if they did it back when Rafa was sporting the awesome sleeveless shirts. XD

As for Team Djokovic, the red shirts made me crack up too. It was so funny seeing all of these grown men sitting in a row wearing red shirts. They looked like life buoys in the midst of all of that blue. I wonder if they also had on the sneakers? :)

Also, I felt sorry for Djokovic's coach (not the new one he's recently brought on but the original coach with the bald head. I think his name is Vider?) Anyway, throughout the whole Djokovic vs Davy D. match he took a beating from the muscled guy in one of those red shirts sitting to his left. I felt so bad for him! That man was just mercilessly thumping and smacking Vider around! Plus, Vider looked so stressed out when Djokovic was losing at the beginning of the match. Poor guy! I have a feeling he won't be sitting next to that guy again who has no self-control and can't keep his hands to himself.

I hope your WTF trekking is going smoothly. Can't wait to read more updates from you.

go nole, success is the best revenge to haters!

Youch! Put those pitch forks and torches away Posmatrac!
While the essence of your statement is true (success IS the best revenge.)
I don't think anybody was being a hater. Unless you're just speaking to the universe in general, in that case....

BELT IT OUT SISTA!

i hope not! 'hater' is the last thing i'd label mini with!

Cheryl, your offhand comment about the Djokovic parents being divorced came as a surprise to me. Do you have a source for this? Many thanks.

Cheryl: What do you make of Nole's red shoes? He looks like Micky Mouse - they make his feet look enormous - even more so than the electric blue shoes he sported earlier in the year.

what really strikes me is that we can't get one short freaking article - acknowledgement for nole's latest results and the way he fought crisis he found himself in throughout 2009 (experts wilander, rusedsky predicted his fall out of top 10 by the end of the year).

i guess laugh at his red shoes, red dressed team, his excited supporter, his divorced parents and his chewing gum loving father (peasant class is the message?) are of higher importance.

oh i forgot nice things on cherryl's blog are reserved for rafa (deservedly so) and andy murray. nole and everything related to him deserve negative context!

Come off it Posmatrac. You're being paranoid. Where's your sense of humour? Trawl back through a few threads and you'll see plenty of praise and admiration for Nole from fans of all persuasion - myself included. BTW: do please stop branding people as 'haters'. The vast majority of us are simply tennis fans wanting to communicate with other tennis fans without brawls breaking out. Why cant you just enjoy Nole's success?

ed251137, true, you've been graceful in your posts, i ack that. i just find discussing player's private matters publicly a bit tacky (given the fact that nole and his family have been crushed heavily by the media in the recent past). i do sincerely enjoy his success and hope it will continue.

pos, i really don't think anyone meant any harm. cheryl and rafa fans have posted weird things rafa does but i tend to find it cute. i really like nole, he's one of my favs but i saw the article as cute and endearing about papa chewing gum. it certainly brings fans like me closer to knowing more about his family, you know, not always the serious reporting is fun to read. maybe it's a sensitive issue because of attacks in the past but i think the top 4 have their fair share of attacks because of their high profile. i think fans are just having some light hearted fun with the funny gossip bits. don't take to heart. you are part of this fun, exciting fan group.

Have just come across these stats for the WTF:

665 accredited journalists representing 28 countries; 86 accredited photographers and
277 broadcasters

Not sure how this compares with the media circus at Grand Slams but it sounds like a lot of people to me. Good decision to bring this event to London. All the more credit has to go to Cheryl for getting her shots of the players with all that competition - no wonder the round table format turned into such a bun fight!

ed - yep. It's a zoo. A delightful zoo, but a zoo nevertheless. Rest assured, there aren't 665 people in the actual media room, however. Maybe I'll post a pic of the room when I get to the tournament today.....

postmatrac - I am not a Djokovic hater. I haven't written any in-depth blogs since I've been in London. I make fun of the top players in equal measure - and without malice. Please don't take offense.

postmatrac, I think there's no malice intended in Cheryl's post though. I for one didn't find anything negative about it. And hey, I like Nole's red shoes! Even his electric blue shoes in the earlier seasons. I think they look snappy on court and it suits Nole's personality. :D

I didn't know that Nole's parents are divorced. I think it's awesome that they can still get together civilly to support their son.

In most of the countries in the Balkans there is belief that when baby is born you should put something red on him/her to protect it from bad lack! (Usually it would be a red filament for arm wrist or smth. like that) I think Nole is just being little superstitious and I do not mind it, it is so amusing!

At least you can pick out Nole in his red gear, likewise I was grateful for Rafa's lime green and Verdi's bright orange. The long distance, high-up camera angles (beloved of sports cameramen) mean you have to concentrate really hard to work out who is who against the tonal blue and grey court. Why do so many players opt to wear black?

Cheryl, the weather there sounds horrible ... hope you're keeping warm and dry.

posmatrac ... I'm really looking forward to a Djokovic/Federer showdown for the final.

I don't mind the matching clothing so much by any of the supporting fans. Sometimes it does seem to cross over into the ridiculous. I do dislike however the continual group chanting or singing for their player - or the angry agressive fist throwing gestures toward the opposing player. You just want to say.... , "Oh sit down and be quiet Life is still good even if you don't win a tennis match. This is after all - NOT a War."

I don't mind the matching clothing so much by any of the supporting fans. Sometimes it does seem to cross over into the ridiculous. I do dislike however the continual group chanting or singing for their player - or the angry aggressive fist throwing gestures toward the opposing player. You just want to say.... , "Oh sit down and be quiet Life is still good even if you don't win a tennis match. This is after all - NOT a War."

The Djokovic parents are not divorced - where did you get that idea?

Yes, i have no idea where she got that info. His parents are not divorced. Rafa's went through a divorce.

Vitality,
what were you implying by mentioning WAR? It sounds tasteless to me.

As for the outfit - players wear what their sponspors create for them.

Pardon my error, Nole fans. I read a few articles last spring alluding to a divorce. I will remove the incorrect information.

I think its great to see Nole's team supporting him in red, he's a colourful character and brings a laugh to the court. Its fun to see them, while Nole is a a true professional anyway. Also what business is it of ours whether his parents are divorced or not? Thats their own business but I sincerely hope its not true

danica You are right...I think durng wars, opposing sides display agression .... which is not appropriate for a sports game. - that kind of behavior from parents or players or their supporters is really - at a mimimu i- tasteless...

Novak is awesome and I believe that his family is awesome too. They are highly supportive of their child and love him to bits. I can't see anything wrong with that. I don't get all those people criticizing them. People show their emotions in a different way and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe you prefer a bored Mirka checking her phone all the time or Fed's father who seems to be asleep half the time or even Uncle Toni who is very composed and reserved. I have respect for all them but I prefer Djokovic's camp who cheer and get excited for him all the time. I do that too in the privacy of my own apartment and I find it very endearing when i see those images of his brothers getting so excited and eager to hug Novak. They look like a great close family. Nole has a big personality and wears his emotions on his sleeve, that's one of the reasons he's so loved around the world. I wouldn't change him one bit. He brings a lot of entertainment and good competition to men's tennis. He's awesome.

lula :) x

yup, he's awesome. who makes the rules on how to and not to behave anyway?