Tennis Stars Weigh In On Pressing Football Debate

Since Wednesday night’s dramatic World Cup play-off match between Ireland and France, when French striker Thierry Henry was shown to have clearly handled the ball in the lead-up to what would be the goal to end Ireland’s chances of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, the sporting world has been gripped in a debate about whether video technology should be introduced in football. Even the world’s leading tennis stars are weighing in, reports The Mirror.

“If it means video replays, that's what they should do because they're bringing it into every sport now,” commented Hibs fan Andy Murray. “No-one wants to watch something like that happen, especially in such a big game”. Added Novak Djokovic: “It's up to FIFA to do something about it."

The first question for Roger Federer at the media round tables on Friday even concerned “the topic of the moment”. “I guess to some degree I am surprised decisions like this can still have such an outcome,” responded Federer, who stars in the Gillette adverts with Henry. “Today, with the technology we have, they should maybe do something like what they have in hockey, maybe, because you can’t stop play all the time and analyse everything I guess. It happened in a split second, you can’t blame him (Henry) for playing on.”

Juan Martin “Nose” The Problem

US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro sat down for his press conference after an entertaining three-set tussle with Andy Murray, and the first question he faced concerned a nose bleed the Tandil native had been treated for during the first set. “My nose.  I have a big nose, so that's the problem,” joked the 21 year old.

Doubles Takes Centre Stage

More than 15,000 people took their seats on centre court to watch the doubles clash between Mahesh Bhupathi-Mark Knowles and Frantisek Cermak-Michal Mertinak – delighting the players who rarely get the chance to play in front of such a large crowd.

“It's fantastic,” said Knowles. “I mean, Mahesh and I had remarked this afternoon we saw how crowded it was for the afternoon session. We were pretty pumped up going out there. It's fantastic to be in London. It's a great venue. With Wimbledon, the tennis tradition is very rich here. The O2 arena is pretty spectacular. I think there were 15,000 people or some out of the there. You really felt it out there. We really tried to play our best tennis, tried to put on a show. It's really a pleasure to play in front of that many people because we don't get that opportunity too often.”