海角直播

Henman v Murray: the fans decide!

As the 2007 Wimbledon championships begin next week, British hopes will again rest on two players, Tim Henman and Andy Murray. Why and how do tennis fans support these two players? University of 海角直播 Sport Studies lecturers will be travelling to the All England Tennis Club next week to explore these and other issues, as part of a research project.

Kevin Dixon, 28, and lecturing colleague Tom Gibbons, 26, will be in Wimbledon at the start of this year鈥檚 two-week tournament to interview fans near the Club grounds. Later they will observe their behaviour and reactions while watching Henman and Murray. Kevin, pictured left with Tom Gibbons, said: 鈥淏oth players represent Britain but Henman is synonymous with England and Murray with Scotland. We鈥檒l be looking at fans鈥� perceptions, why do they choose to support either Henman or Murray? Or both? Is it a nationalistic feeling? And how do they show their support? 鈥淲e鈥檒l also be looking at the international perspective, asking fans who鈥檝e travelled from abroad why they鈥檙e there, and what do they admire about their favourite players? We鈥檙e looking to talk to and observe as many people as possible. Our observations won鈥檛 be invasive of fans鈥� enjoyment of the matches. It鈥檒l be my first time at the tournament and I鈥檓 really looking forward to it.鈥�

The research results will appear in the journal Sport and Society later this year.

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