^^^like as you said, he is THE thing of tennis now.........but he ain't getting the deserved respect wherever he goes except in spain........french and wimbledon are always roger backers and they don't know anything apart from chanting his name........they can't find anyone else's game attractive and can't appreciate the one who shook federer's authority.......
even in roger's match with soderling yesterday, soderling was up 5-2 in the third set having LOST the first two sets.......i could hear at least 15 shouts from the crowd "come on roger!!!" in the eighth game when roger was serving down 2-5 and not even one backed soderling........that poor fellow had already lost 2 sets and they are backing federer as if he is 0-6,0-6, 0-5 0-40 down and needs to be helped out of the chaos........that's the level of support others get when they play against roger at wimbledon or french........gosh!
You can't get on fans for that. I think Roger, too, has deserved that honor. It's not just reserved for Rafa. Rafa is still young and has a lot of years left in his career. Give them time. I think the older the player, the more the fans seem to 'back', particularly if you've been well-liked all along. I think as Pete got older people were pulling for him more. Look at Andre. He wasn't well liked in his youth, but he was a fan favorite of just about everyone the older he got. Rafa will get that respect....just hold on a while. 
do you think roger is old now? ! ! ! but i was just mentioning the attitude of the british crowd who are always blind to everyone's game but roger's.......
I'm going by what some folks have been saying... the "young guns" are here now Djokovic, Nadal, Guilbis, etc. etc. That Roger will be 27 in August...past his prime, etc. Personally I don't think he's that old... But when you look at the 'young gun' ages, he's one of the elder statesmen of the game.
Again... I still feel Roger has earned the british crowd's respect and everyone else. Why do you think Roger gets voted Best Sportsman in tennis by his own peers every year? He's well liked. So even if I wasn't a Federer fan, I could not get upset by the fans and media for liking the guy. I have a feeling that you're blaming the crowds, organizers, players, media, and others for not 'pulling' for Nadal like they do Roger? And I'm saying give it time. Nadal has drastically improved not only in his game, but in his English language. That helps.
It still amazes me that when you read other players answers when they ask "Since you're out of the tournament, who do you want to see win?", and 9 out of 10 have said Roger in the past. Roger hangs out with all the players, he jokes around, they said he treats them like 'one of the guys' from the 200 ranked player to whomever. He goes out to dinner with them, he practices with them, he's accessible to the media. He's earned that.
I don't think you will find another player who can say they don't like Nadal. They respect him and admire him but most know Roger better. That's all. The longer Nadal keeps up this tremendous pace, the more the fans and media and everyone else will be drawn to him.
OK... enough of my soap box. That's all I have to say on this subject.
