If you saw a 6’3” man wearing a white “Strawberries & Cream” hat roaming the Wimbledon grounds on Thursday, you came across more than the typical hardcore tennis fan. Aleksander Barkov loves tennis, but he is also one of the best ice hockey players on the planet.
Barkov, the captain of the Florida Panthers, recently helped his team become the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Champions. Now he is at Wimbledon to watch his girlfriend, Marie Bouzkova, compete in the grass-court major.
It is not his first time at The All England Club, though. Barkov, who is Finnish, has visited often in recent years and hit with several players, including Sebastian Korda and John Isner.
“I know a bunch of players like Sebi Korda. I met him many times and Emil Ruusuvuori for sure, I met him a few times. I like to watch him,” Barkov told ATPTour.com of his countryman. “I just like literally everyone! There is not one player that I don't like, so I just like to watch good tennis.”
Tennis is Barkov’s favourite sport outside of hockey. He was thrilled to make a stop at the Tennis Channel desk at Wimbledon, where he spoke to Panthers fan Martina Navratilova and host Steve Weissman. Before heading to SW19, Navratilova actually had the chance to enjoy a drink out of the Stanley Cup.
“I like to watch tennis a lot and pretty much have Tennis Channel on all the time and see all the different tournaments,” Barkov said. “I also like to play, so that's easy.”
Tennis is intense for the players, but Barkov explained that he feels calm and relaxed when he watches the sport and greatly enjoys the rallies. He was in Isner’s box two years ago when the American defeated Andy Murray at Wimbledon.
“[I was among] the only people who were cheering for John and everyone else was cheering for Andy,” Barkov said, cracking a laugh. “Obviously Andy on the Centre Court is something special.”
Which current or former tennis player would make a good hockey player?
“For the love of the game, I think John is up there,” Barkov said of Isner. “I don't know if he's a good player, but he would be a good net-front guy!”
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