It seems 2024 is the year of controversies for Jon Wertheim. And people are unwilling to forgive the journalist, let alone forget and move on. After the Barbora Krejcikova issue that cost the journalist his job, a controversy related to Rafael Nadal is threatening to put Wertheim into further disrepute.
He was sacked by the Tennis Channel a few days ago for mocking Krejcikova by comparing his forehand to hers. Krejcikova called the American scribe ‘unprofessional’ in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Wertheim did apologize but without taking her name. This made an X user come out narrating an incident involving Nadal, calling Wertheim a ‘little man’, questioning the scribe’s integrity.
The user’s name is Dzonny Bravo, who calls himself a ‘Tennis Troll’ in his bio. Bravo responded to Krejcikova’s tweet by sharing his experience while confronting Wertheim about a story the scribe posted on Nadal a few weeks ago. He accused Wertheim of trying to gain publicity from the Spaniard’s retirement announcement.
Bravo described that the journalist had claimed that he overheard two workers at Wimbledon talk about what a ‘nice guy’ Nadal is. And, one of the workers did not know who Nadal was apparently. This made Bravo question the credibility of the story.
When he approached Wertheim about this, the scribe got furious, and called him a liar. Wertheim then asked Bravo to apologize publicly, take down his post, and donate $100 to a charity the American journalist is associated with.
Normally I don’t share private messages with anyone but @jon_wertheim proved to be a little man so there you go. Last month he posted a story on the day when Rafa announced his retirement about some two workers at Wimbledon talking to each other and saying what a nice guy Rafa… pic.twitter.com/Y7C3pJfw70
— Dzonny Bravo (@DzonnyBravo) November 10, 2024
Bravo refused, and called Wertheim a ‘Leftist’ who had supported Martina Navratilova when she wore a hat featuring the word ‘Impeach’ at Wimbledon once (seemingly a dig at current POTUS, Donald Trump). Bravo also called him out for supporting Andy Roddick, his then partner at the Served podcast.
Eventually, Wertheim blocked him. But it seems that the conversation has come back to bite him at a time when the tennis world is divided about his credibility after the Krejcikova controversy.
Interestingly, Wertheim has always praised Nadal. His response to this incident could reveal more about it and its veracity.
Wertheim once said Nadal is more relatable than Federer, Djokovic
On Nadal’s retirement, Wertheim wrote an extensive piece on the 22-time Grand Slam champion for Sports Illustrated. Before that, he harped about Nadal’s humility a lot in a special episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast.
“When you see Nadal behind the scenes and the way he operates and the way he treats people, you feel this guy is who he is. He is just endearing, not because it’s calculated or he is showing false humility, it is just because he is that way.
“For someone like me who sees these three guys (Nadal, Federer and Djokovic) as superheroes, he was the most relatable because you could see his struggle.
“I have come to know, respect and get Rafa even more over time.”
Wertheim presented an example of it by narrating an incident on the sidelines of the US Open in 2008. He was interviewing a young Nadal, fresh from winning the Wimbledon and the Olympic singles gold medal. However, during the interview, Nadal rushed back to practice court because he had left an empty water bottle outside. The former World No.1 was concerned because he forgot to throw his bottle away.
While Wertheim is a huge Nadal admirer, Bravo may or may not be. And whatever the case is here, the journalist’s reputation is on the line. It remains to be seen whether he would choose to present his side of the story.
