Mark Nixon · @markalannixon
6th Jun 2014 from TwitLonger
"That day wasn't fun." Rafa in l'Equipe on the day the centre court fans at RG wanted him to lose: That day (4th round against Söderling in 2009) wasn't agreeable. What wasn't agreeable was feeling people wanting you to lose in a place you love and have always loved more than anything. Because that's what happened that day. The crowd wasn't pulling for my opponent, they weren't cheering him on. They wanted me to lose. It's not the same. Do I understand why the crowd acted like that? It's part of sport. Sometimes people have enough of seeing the same people win. I hear them. I didn't say anything special about it at the press conference because I didn't think it was about me personally. It was more against what I represented. Me, I did nothing wrong (laughs). In any case, that day, what hurt me the most was losing. Not everything else around it. But I've accepted the loss. No problem. My relationship with the Roland-Garros crowd hasn't stopped getting better since. When I walk in the street, when I go to Disneyland, I feel liked in France.