Djokovic Meets Italian Pop Star Eros Ramazzotti At Roland Garros

As Novak Djokovic eased past Aljaz Bedene at Roland Garros on Friday, a bona fide superstar of Italian music was enjoying the on-court rhythm of the World No. 1’s third-round display.

Eros Ramazzotti, who has sold over 60 million records across a 30-year career, was in the stands on Court Philippe Chatrier to witness Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Ramazzotti, a singer, instrumentalist and songwriter who is also hugely popular in the Spanish-speaking world, is a long-time tennis fan but was paying his first visit to Roland Garros as a guest of the French Tennis Federation.

“I always follow tennis and enjoy watching matches,” said the 58-year-old Ramazzotti, who has performed duets with a catalogue of stars including Cher, Tina Turner, Luciano Pavarotti and Ricky Martin. “The site is very impressive, I had never been here before. It was nice to see the behind the scenes and meet some of the players.

“John McEnroe used to be my favourite player, but this generation has a lot of amazing athletes and it’s really fun to follow the sport.”

A seven-time year-end No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Djokovic’s own Italian language skills are well-known. Two years ago, the Serbian even visited one of Italy’s most well-known music festivals in Sanremo, where he sang ‘Terra Promessa’, one of Ramazzotti’s most famous songs.