French Open diary: Tennis stars talk FIFA arrests

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  • Djokovic is good mates with Ibrahimovic, tennis players share views on Blatter.

    It’s not every day you walk into a players’ lounge at a grand slam and find Bastian Schweinsteiger just hanging out.

    The German World Cup winner and Bayern Munich star has been a nice addition to this year’s French Open, where he’s been a constant presence in the box of his girlfriend Ana Ivanovic. 

    The former Roland Garros champion was asked about having Schweinsteiger in her corner and Ivanovic smoothly side-stepped the question saying: “It’s great having a great team around you and positive people and the support. You know, there is nothing better than that.”

    F1 driver Romain Grosjean watched Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray’s matches on Philippe Chatrier on Thursday while Zlatan Ibrahimovic opted for Suzanne Lenglen instead as he clearly preferred to catch Novak Djokovic in action.

    “We are friends, we have known each other for several years,” Djokovic said of his relationship with the PSG striker. 

    “It was great to have him today. I’m his fan. I love the way he plays football. I know him personally, as well. He played for AC Milan and ever since then we’ve been friends and we are in touch and whenever we can we watch each other perform. 

    “So he came with his children, I think, two years ago in Paris. And he told me today they are also playing tennis and football.

    “I hear he’s playing in the finals of the French Cup on Saturday here in Stade de France. If the schedule allows me, maybe I will go to repay him the visit.”

    Walking on eggshells 

    Nadal and Murray are both huge football fans and I was curious to hear their thoughts on the recent FIFA arrests and whether Blatter should stay as FIFA president for another term.

    I was disappointed that neither one of them chose to speak up regarding Blatter but here are Nadal’s thoughts on whether having one person govern any sport for such a long time is a good idea.

    “Is a tough answer, because at the end of the day I don’t want to be involved in these kind of things,” replied the Spaniard. “If you are in the same place for a long time you may not be honest, but it’s true that the history says that it’s easier to be honest if you are in shorter periods of time. You are there and you come back later. The alternation is good in every place of the world, I think.”

    Murray said he wasn’t surprised by the FIFA arrests and when asked if he thought Blatter should win he said: “I don’t know, to be honest. I really don’t know.”

    Roger Federer took a slightly stronger stance saying: “I am a football fan but I’m not a fan of the people. I love to watch football. When you’re a fan, what you want is for things to be done properly in the right way, and it doesn’t seem to be the case.

    “I think it’s quite disappointing to see what’s happening. I think it’s bad in terms of image. I want to simply be a football fan, nothing else.”

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