I think the Brits just worship successful people. If Federer wasn't so successful then do you think he would have such a big fanbase anywhere? I doubt it.
I never had any problems liking Andy. He seemed nice and extremely grounded from the start. It's a shame that he had to do all the hard word and take all those criticism just to be liked. And now that he has Wimbledon, suddenly he's the golden child. It's kind of pathetic on their part if you ask me.