The speaker of the UK's lower house of parliament John Bercow has expressed his admiration for tennis stars Rafael Nadal of Spain and Roger Federer of Switzerland and said he will be interested in watching the upcoming ATP Masters 1000 tournament live in Madrid.

Bercow, who is also a fan of English football club Arsenal, revealed himself as a fan of the racket sport and of the 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.

"I will let you into a secret, this is not absolutely certain and it depends, but I have never been to watch live the Madrid Masters, which is a Masters 1000 tennis tournament in May," he told Efe in an interview. "And I am slightly tempted to come this time."

"But much as I admire your amazing Rafa Nadal, my own personal hero is Roger Federer, so if Roger progresses in Madrid, and if he were to get to the weekend stages, I would probably want to come and watch him, because he is my hero," Bercow said.

The 56-year-old British politician, who acts as a sort of "referee" in the House of Commons and is well-known for his cries of "order" to stop lawmakers from talking over each other, expressed an interest in watching Nadal, 32, play at the upcoming tournament in the Spanish capital.

"And of course if you see Nadal play it is a huge honour and privilege and to see him play on clay, and the Madrid Masters is on clay, is one of the great sporting experiences," he added.

--IANS

kk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)