"Same idiot questions I got 20 years ago" - Zlatan Ibrahimovic slams Swedish publication for asking Mikael Ymer questions unrelated to tennis and success

Soccer great Zlatan Ibrahimovic has defended compatriot Mikael Ymer and criticized a Swedish news publication for directing questions to the Swedish tennis star that were unrelated to his game. Ibrahimovich said that he was asked the same "idiot questions" when he was a young and upcoming player 20 years ago.

Ymer was recently interviewed by the Swedish publication SVT Sport where he spoke about his personality and was asked about some of his comments on social media that have caused controversies.

Ibrahimovic took to Twitter to express his displeasure with the interviewer for not asking questions related to Ymer's on-court success.

"Mikael Ymer, 24 years old, is ranked as Sweden's best tennis player. He is interviewed on SVT, but the questions he gets are not about the sport and the successes. The exact same idiot questions I got 20 years ago. SVT should be ashamed and the journalist should be fired," Ibrahimovic stated.

Speaking about his social media comments in the past that have raised eyebrows, Ymer stated that he expresses himself based on how he feels in the moment and wasn't concerned if people thought he was rude.

"I go a lot by feeling and that's how I feel at the moment. If people think I'm rude, fine," Ymer said.

Ymer competed in his home ATP event, the Stockholm Open, this week and bowed out of the tournament in the quarterfinals with a loss against top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

"Not interested in being loved by everyone" - Mikael Ymer

Mikael Ymer in action at the 2022 US Open.

Mikael Ymer further spoke about his general outlook and mindset, and clarified that he was not interested in becoming a role model for everyone. The Swedish No. 1 stated that he cared more about the opinions of those who have met him in the past and know him well.

"I am not interested in being loved by everyone or a role model for everyone," Ymer told SVT Sport. "I'm more interested in someone who met me in person, as a child at SALK (tennis club in Stockholm). If someone who has actually met me would have an opinion about me, then I would have called and said 'hey, it hurts me that you got this opinion, there must have been something'."

Ymer has reached three tour-level semifinals this season — Montpellier, the Citi Open, and in Florence last week. He started the season ranked 94th in the world and is currently ranked No. 79. He has a 20-17 win/loss record on the ATP tour this season.