LONDON: Women’s World number two Ons Jabeur has revealed that she started to follow Real Madrid because of Cristiano Ronaldo while claiming to be his huge fan.
Tunisia’s Jabuer, who has reached Wimbledon’s round of sixteen and will lock horns against France’s Diane Parry on Friday, disclosed in a BBC Sport column that the Portuguese star was her favorite footballer and called him an inspiration.
“I love watching football and I’m a huge Cristiano Ronaldo fan. He’s a great athlete and just an inspiration for me,” she said.
The Tennis star stated that she had been following Real Madrid because of Ronaldo and felt dejected when he left the club.
“I became a Real Madrid fan thanks to Cristiano, I was pretty sad when Cristiano left but I’m always following him, as well as still following Real,” she added
Meanwhile, she also claimed to be a Manchester United fan too since her favorite footballer had joined the club and vowed to continue her support for Ronaldo wherever he moves.
“So now I’m a Manchester United fan too and if he goes anywhere else then I will support that team for sure,” she maintained.
She further expressed her wish to witness a Real Madrid match because of her passion for the club while claiming that she felt connected with Real’s striker Karim Benzema because of her Arab Heritage.
“It’s on my bucket list to go and see a Real Madrid match, When I’m playing at the Madrid Open I always want to go to the Bernabeu to watch a match and I especially wanted to go this year because Real had a massive Champions League game against Manchester City,” she added.
“That Champions League game was the night when Karim Benzema scored the winning goal – I love him too. He’s of Algerian heritage so there is an Arabic connection for me,” she concluded.
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