World Cup 2026: Didier Deschamps 'very funny and motivated' says Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli and Didier Deschamps are both French sporting icons.

Bartoli - a former Wimbledon champion. Deschamps - a World Cup winner as both a player and manager.

On Tuesday, Deschamps will lead France into their World Cup semi-final against Spain (20:00 BST).

In the build-up to that match, Bartoli spoke to BBC Sport's Katie Gornall about her friendship with Deschamps and gave an insight into the man hoping to lead France to more global success.

After Bartoli won Wimbledon in 2013, French newspaper L'Equipe named her their female Champion of Champions.

She met Deschamps, who had become France boss a year earlier, at the award ceremony.

"We have 13 years of friendship, which is something I massively cherish because I know he's under so much pressure," said Bartoli, 41.

"He comes to Dubai, where I live, quite often. He loves his tennis... now he has moved into padel, which I tease him about.

"He is very funny. He always takes the time to reply to me, always takes the time to answer back, is always asking me where I am in the world.

"He knows my daughter really well and he knows my husband well because they play padel together. I see him as a true friend."

It is not just Bartoli's husband who takes on Deschamps, 57, at padel.

Zinedine Zidane - his World Cup-winning team-mate in 1998, and the man likely to be the next France boss - is among his regular opponents, as is Spanish World Cup winner Andres Iniesta.

But Bartoli would prefer Deschamps to return to playing her sport.

"We used to play together before, but he's like: 'I'm getting old, now padel is perfect for me - I don't have to cover too much court.'

"He absolutely loves his padel and Zinedine loves to play as well, so they play together quite often in the south of France. They play together with Iniesta as well in Dubai.

"It's nice to see those incredible champions going on for a padel game and fighting against each other. I find it quite hilarious, but once it's in your blood, it's never really going away... always a competitor."

The France players ran to celebrate with Deschamps during their 3-0 last-32 win over Sweden - the first game since the manager returned to North America after attending his mother's funeral

While tournament favourites France have impressed on the field at the World Cup, Deschamps has had to deal with the loss of his mother Ginette.

She died aged 86 on 23 June, and Deschamps temporarily left the national team camp in the United States to return to France for her funeral - missing their 4-1 victory over Norway.

"I wrote him a message," said Bartoli. "He replied within an hour thanking me and understanding the difficulty he was going through grieving, but at the same time having the positive vibe from the team.

"He might feel more down when the World Cup is finished, because that's when actually you come back to what happens outside of your life.

"But he's in a high spirit, very motivated, as always. I just know him as someone who is such a tough competitor."

Deschamps captained France to World Cup victory as a player in 1998 - and was manager when they repeated that feat in 2018.

During his 14 years in charge, they have also reached another World Cup final - losing to Argentina on penalties in 2022 - and lost to Portugal in the European Championship final in 2016.

Should they beat Spain, his last tournament as manager will end with a match against either Argentina or England.

"What he cares about is taking this generation to become world champions," said Bartoli. "They won in 2018, made the final in 2022, and he really wants to go out on a high now.

"Spain are going to be a tough opponent. He knows it. We lost to them in the Euros, so he wants to get revenge, absolutely."

Bartoli feels Deschamps has not received the praise he deserves because of high expectation levels in French sport.

"In France we have 67 million coaches trying to get the French team to win," she said. "It's not an easy job but he does it brilliantly.

"We have been so spoiled over the years to have incredible players - the likes of Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, Eric Cantona - and we kind of feel every single time we have to win.

"For me, he doesn't get the reward and the press he should get based on the extraordinary results, but that's France and he knows about it."

Bartoli says the perfect ending to Deschamps' spell as French boss would be to lift the World Cup trophy on 19 July.

Whatever happens, she expects him to have a future in the game.

"I'm sure, knowing him, he will go on another adventure," she said. "I don't know if he's going to be at a club and where.

"He's probably going to take a year off, but he loves his football too much to walk away from it.

"He absolutely wants to go out on a high and obviously winning would be the best. He is a true winner."