CAMELOT FANTASIES

1. Very interesting insight, Emma. I never thought about it that way. I always looked at it as conserving energy for the later rounds.

2. Never thought about the crowd and how it might affect him, also interesting.

3. You were right. He seem as if he wasn't pumped up at all, or maybe he got tired. I had the sound off.

I am not sure if you noticed but Sampras too had the same problem, not the big crowd but the opponents. His responses were very lukewarm against lower ranked players but when it came to players who were more of his league, he'd thrive on those challenges. But the difference is, his serves (both) were the most reliable weapon in his arsenal, so he really didn't need to worry about losing to these lesser ranked players in his prime. Andy does not have that luxury - especially not against big servers like Raonic, Isner etc. and anyone who has more consistent serves than his. So Andy really needs to think about what he can truly afford. Deep down inside he knows that he is rich enough to live rest of his life comfortably so this is surely not a do or die situation for him. It's disappointing and that's all there is, for him anyway. I am sure he got over the loss already.

Nadal, Federer, Nole aren't that way. They take each of their opponent very seriously and like to show off a lot by beating them quite easily. They are always busy showing that they are the masters of the game to the lower ranked players. They are also very focused. Nole does have a slight tendency to get a bit unmindful during a match, but both Federer and Nadal are extremely focused. And if they still lose it, it would be because they are not feeling as confident as they typically do due to injuries or bad losses etc. but almost never because they didn't take their opponents seriously. Nole is very focuses most of the time. He has the tendency to get a bit nervous when he faces a worthy opponent but his lack of concentration is almost never the reason for losing. 

As to the crowd, Andy's slightly spoiled in this regard. A good or bad (who's cheering against him or cheering more for his opponent) crowd tend to bring out the best in him. I do think it has everything to do with him being British. Personally I think he'd have been far more successful if he had been an American. First of all, he would have gotten less attention from the media; 2nd, he would have been far more open and relaxed and would have had a much firmer goal as he wouldn't have then had the pressure of breaking the 77 year old drought. Also, had he been an American he would have been more encouraged by the likes of Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Courier, Connors etc. and would have had a different sets of goals. Plus, the Americans tend to support their players without any condition so that would have had a positive reflect on him.

Andy is a very talented and skillful player. He's also very athletic and gifted. It would be a crying shame if he didn't maximize all his potentiality to actuality.