Caught between the racquet and the goal: tennis stars' Champion League dilemma

Tennis stars love for other sports is not hidden and that will be once again put to the test when they have a difficult option to stay in Paris or fly out to watch the UEFA Champions League final. Football’s elite club competition’s final will take place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, where players Spanish champions Real Madrid and German Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund will fight to claim the ultimate prize.

Last year, Italy’s tennis star Fabio Fognini nearly received a ban after flying to watch the final of the Champions League between English champions Manchester City and Seria A champions Inter Milan. The 37-year-old flew just weeks before the start of Wimbledon and failed to report the authorities, so he ended up missing the tests leading up to the competition.

Fognini’s team managed to help him escape the ban, but even then, he did not participate in Wimbledon last year. He was not the only tennis player who attended the final of the Champions League. In 2022, former world number one Spain’s Rafael Nadal attended the grand finale featuring his favourite club Madrid taking on Liverpool. In that contest, the Los Blancos came out on top with a score of 1-0.