My French nose in your British tennis court

by Benoit Rajalu

It happens every time, and there is no end to it.

Even when he loses, it is as if he were just too good to win.

He is the best player in world and yet, some are still better than him.

Or at least that is what people might think, stumbling upon an article about Andy Murray in the British press.

I’m not saying this is a typically British thing; French media do like to overdo it as well sometimes.

However, I have never seen them push so hard to turn one of our athletes into national glory.

This might be partly due to the old French habit of loving to hate their heroes.

Some of them, like Zinedine Zidane, are out of reach, but not many other sports celebrities can aim for such a high spot.

The press therefore stays relatively cautious; the public would not leave a chance to the made-up heroes, even if they were French.

But then again, if you were to have a look at The Times online, and read the comments to their loving articles about Murray, you would find that British readers are not any keener of this kind of premature congratulations.

The question therefore is: why do they do this?

I’ll admit straight away I am not a consumed and passionate fan of sports, but there is one thing I understand: Made-up heroes always disappoint.

Does the British press have a motive in not leaving Murray alone? Are they so confidant he’ll be so great so soon that they’re making sure they can say: “we told you so” later?

No matter what the reason is, the most immediate effect is pretty disastrous.

Mostly because French tennis players are so much better anyway.