French Open Diary: Homework for Sharapova, Nadal shocked by Zidane exit

Maria Sharapova failed to come up with the answer when quizzed if she knew who Roland Garros was at the French Open on Thursday.

Published : Jun 01, 2018 04:16 IST

Maria Sharapova was given a history lesson after making it through to the third round of the French Open and it was not all good news for Rafael Nadal on Thursday.

Sharapova beat Donna Vekic in Paris before having an unexpected question to answer in her media conference

Ten-time champion Nadal eased through in straight sets, but spoke of his disappointment over Zinedine Zidane's decision to quit Real Madrid.

Read about this and more as we take a look at what was going on around the grounds at Roland Garros on day five.

 

HOMEWORK FOR SHARAPOVA

It seems Sharapova may have some homework to do after she was quizzed about her knowledge of Roland Garros.

The Russian passed another on-court test but failed to come up with the answers off it later on.

A journalist asked: "The French Open's named after Roland Garros. Do you know much about the man?"

Sharapova replied: "Very little. I read up on it, like, many, many years ago, but I'm not - maybe you could tell me more."

Journalist: "He was a fighter pilot."

Sharapova: "Okay."

 

€65 FOR AN UMBRELLA - 'LA BOUTIQUE' CLEANING UP WHATEVER THE WEATHER

The weather has been as changeable as Lady Gaga's outfit this week and although it has affected the schedule, merchandise profits must be soaring.

Even light showers had spectators scampering for umbrellas, priced up to €65 a piece, but they might have wished they kept their money in the pockets when the sun was blazing soon after.

Waterproof ponchos were also selling well at €15 each in 'La Boutique', as was the factor 50 suncream at €15. 

Tournament organisers will no doubt agree that every cloud has a silver lining when they check on sales.

 

NADAL SURPRISED BY ZIDANE EXIT

Avid Real Madrid fan Nadal was unsurprisingly asked about Zidane's exit after his emphatic win over Guido Pella.

The 'King of Clay' was ecstatic after Real's Champions League triumph over Liverpool last weekend and paid tribute to head coach Zidane.

He said: "It was a surprise for everybody, but at the same time, Zidane is a top person. He's a person that it is tough to accept that he's leaving for different things, different reasons.

"First thing because he's a great coach and he was having a lot of success with our team. Second thing, he's a good person, a normal person, a humble person.

"He represents, in my opinion, the right values, and he's a perfect example of how somebody with a lot of success has to do the things of every day, with being normal, being humble without saying negative things about the players, about the club, about nobody. Never, I never heard [anything about] referees, nothing."

 

ZOPP SILENCES RAUCOUS BELGIANS

Ruben Bemelmans had the packing of a raucous Belgian crowd against fellow lucky loser Jurgen Zopp but they went home disappointed.

Zopp, the 136-ranked Estonian found himself two sets down on Court 6, with Belgian tones ringing in his ears.

The Belgian contingents were silenced by a storming fightback from Zopp, though, as he dug himself out of a hole to win 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

Luckily for the boisterous Belgians, they still have the likes of David Goffin to get behind.

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