Despite being a seasoned tennis commentator, American legend John McEnroe manages to get himself into trouble often. At the ongoing French Open, McEnroe is working as a tennis broadcaster for Eurosport. During the match between Novak Djokovic and Francisco Cerundolo, McEnroe pronounced the latter’s name wrongly, that too multiple times. It attracted a lot of flak on social media.
Francisco Cerundolo is an Argentine player. While he was playing against Djokovic, McEnroe frustrated many with his unprofessional approach towards commentary by showing a lack of respect for the Serb’s opponent. An X user named Olly tweeted about the same:
“McEnroe has said Cerundolo’s name over 100 times during this match, and not one of the pronunciations have been correct.”
Although Olly posted it with two contrasting emojis – a smiley one and a crying one, fans were in no mood to be compassionate towards the 7-time men’s singles Grand Slam champion.
Not only is it insensitive on McEnroe’s part, but it also highlights a lack of research from him before the game. Research is imperative for a commentator before a match. Several people reacted to the American’s casual demeanor during commentary and lambasted him for it. So many of them even pointed out that this wasn’t the first time he has gotten into trouble on the mic.
All he has to do is go on the ATP website and listen to Francisco Cerúndolo saying his own name but that’s too much prep for John McEnroe.
— Mel (@MelRTW) June 3, 2024
Typical John McEnroe. Ill-prepared, disrespectful and rude. It’s not like the ATP website does not have to correct pronunciation. It’s not like Cerundolo hasn’t been around for a few years.
— Miragegrace (@Miragegrace1) June 3, 2024
He always says Joke-a-vitch.
Not Jockavitch ..— Jane V Carroll (@lifechance29) June 4, 2024
And how rude was he about @ZizouBergs ? Horrible.
— She’s Come Undone (@ShesCome_Undone) June 4, 2024
John McEnroe hasn’t commented on this controversy yet and has once again, not apologised for such an error. Apart from fans pointing out that he has made goof-ups with names such as Novak Djokovic and Zizou Bergs in the past too.
However, the most prominent commentary blunder the American has committed in the last 12 months, was at the Wimbledon 2023 Championships when he made ill-educated comments about another South American player, Nicolas Jarry.
John McEnroe Could Face the Heat at Wimbledon 2024 After Nicolas Jarry Error in 2023
John McEnroe was a commentator for the host broadcasters, BBC alongside Clare Balding at the Wimbledon Championships last year. Nicolas Jarry of Chile was playing against the eventual champion, Carlos Alcaraz in the third round of the tournament.
Jarry lost a well-contested match 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 5-7 to Alcaraz, but it was McEnroe’s comments that upset fans more than the Chilean’s loss. The American claimed that Jarry wasn’t well-known in the tennis world and that his recognition would come in due time.
However, the comment smacked of ignorance and disrespect again as tennis lovers responded online by urging McEnroe to get his facts and stats right about players before commenting. At the time, Nicolas Jarry was still in the top 50 of the ATP rankings, so the American should have known more about him according to many, and rightly so.
Many have also questioned BBC for paying John McEnroe a whopping 100,000 GBP ($125,000 USD approximately) per week as per a report from The Mirror, for a commentary stint at the Grand Slam despite not being the best at his job clearly. It is likely that at the upcoming Wimbledon tournament, all eyes will once again be on the American’s commentary and his contract as public pressure could make the BBC take a tough call then.
Nevertheless, it seems that Nicolas Jarry took that comment like a bullet to his heart and scripted a remarkable career rise. In less than 12 months, Jarry reached his career-best ranking of 16 and won 3 ATP titles. This year, Jarry reached his first-ever Masters final at the 2024 Italian Open.
