I quite enjoyed the match between Paul-Henri Mathieu and Djokovic at the French yesterday and it got me to thinking about the pressure Tim used to face at wimbledon
French winners at their home tournament are almost as lacking (but not quite!) as British wins at Wimbledon, the last female to win the French was Mary Pierce in 2000, and on the men's side, you have to go back to 1983 when Yannick Noah beat Mats Wilander for the title
I have no doubt that the French players feel just as much pressure as Tim felt on his shoulders, but you cannot sense that palpable tension that Hemnan played under on the hallowed grass courts. A Tim fan for many years, the first time i made it onto the centre court to watch him play, I was taken aback by the baited breath of 14,000 people, the sighs when he missed a shot and the like, I honestly have never felt anything like it
Maybe it's a British thing, and lets face it, we are very familiar with holding our sporting hopes high only for them to be dashed, but the French seem far calmer about the whole thing!
They are odd though, I am always fascinated how quickly the French crowd can turn on someone when they dont like their demeanour, style of play or whatever it may be, and the whistles begin to ring around the stadium