French Open: John McEnroe Leaves Fans Infuriated With His ‘Obnoxious’ Mockery of Alexander Zverev’s Name

The 2024 French Open hasn’t been John McEnroe’s proudest moment. In the final year of NBC’s media rights deal for the French Open, McEnroe announced midway through the thrilling battle for the title between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz that this would be his final time commentating a match. However, that wasn’t enough to divert fans’ attention from the real cause for bother: the seven-time Grand Slam champion pronouncing Zverev’s name.

Alexander ‘Sascha’ Zverev. The name – specifically ‘Zverev’ – may look tough to pronounce, but it’s just two syllables. Zve-rev. However, every time John McEnroe pronounces the German’s name, he adds an extra ‘e’ between the first two letters. Besides this, his inaccurate predictions, talking between points, and a few mistakes here and there haven’t gone down well with NBC viewers.

Considering viewers tuned in to watch drama and high-quality tennis unfold at Court Philippe-Chatrier, they didn’t expect it to come from McEnroe. In light of his numerous faux pas, a fan tweeted just a few minutes into the men’s singles final: “It’s been 2 games and John McEnroe is already unbearable commentating this #RolandGarros final.” This came after the American legend’s controversial comments following Saturday’s women’s final.

After Iga Swiatek breezed past Jasmine Paolini, 6-2, 6-1, to win her fourth Roland Garros title, McEnroe questioned whether Swiatek would “throw on a little makeup” before the ceremony to receive her trophy. He even suggested that she might consider it if Lancome USA, her recent cosmetics partner, offered her the right price. With calls to ban him from commentary after those remarks, the fans who hoped for that must’ve been happy when McEnroe made his final-match announcement. That said, let’s come back to McEnroe’s pronunciation of names.

It’s important to note that this wasn’t the first time he’s mispronounced Alexander Zverev’s name. Nor was it his first time mocking a player’s name. At the 2023 Australian Open, he was commentating alongside his brother, Patrick McEnroe, during the second-round match between Frances Tiafoe and Juncheng ‘Jerry’ Shang. On the live broadcast, John asked, “What is this Chinese guy’s name? Jerry?” Curious about his name, the legend inquired, “How did they come up with Jerry? Is he the only guy from China named Jerry? Did his parents watch Tom and Jerry?”

Although Shang’s parents were inspired by Tom and Jerry to name their son, McEnroe wasn’t aware of that connection. And he made the “only guy in China named Jerry” comment despite Patrick telling him that Shang lived in Florida. In light of this, coupled with the fact that most find John McEnroe’s pronunciation of Zverev unbearable, fans called the American out on social media, with some going as far as calling him the “worst commentator.”

McEnroe has been “making a mess” of Alexander Zverev’s name since forever

Although various platforms have been covering tennis in the United States recently, NBC has been handling the coverage for the French Open. However, with McEnroe on their commentary panel, fans have been discontent and requested NBC to let their competitors handle tennis coverage instead. On this front, one Twitter user said, “@nbc, can you please leave tennis broadcasting to the #Tennis channel. We could’ve been enjoying the #rolandgarros final with the awesome Jim Courier commentating, but we’re forced to listen to the obnoxious @JohnMcEnroe. You suck.”

Well, with TNT getting the rights to the French Open from next year, this fan got their wish. Tennis Channel has received its fair share of criticism these past few months, especially when it comes to its broadcasting. Remember how the channel didn’t broadcast the all-American matchup between Coco Gauff and Madison Keys? At least, not on its main channel. However, fans still prefer that to NBC’s coverage, with McEnroe in commentary.

“Oh no. McEnroe commentating. So we have to listen to him mispronounce Zverev all match,” wrote one fan. And with that, they also gave the American a guide on saying Sascha’s name correctly: “It’s NOT ZA- ver-ev. It’s Zver–ev!!!!” Coming into the finals, Alcaraz had played one five-setter – his semifinal matchup against Jannik Sinner. On the other hand, Zverev had played two. Given the level of tennis they were both playing, almost everyone felt their battle would be a five-setter, too.

Considering a five-set match usually amounts to as many hours of play (if not more), another fan commented, “So excited to listen to 5 hours of John McEnroe mispronouncing Zverev.” While this fan pre-empted what would happen, another tuned in to be greeted by the mispronunciation. “Haven’t watched tennis in a while. I see McEnroe is still doing ‘Zhaverrevv,’” they wrote, mocking the legend’s way of saying the German’s name.

Seeing as McEnroe has been commentating for quite some time now and the fact that Alexander Zverev has been on the circuit for years, too, people expect the former No.1 to be able to get Zverev’s name right. Pleading to NBC, one wrote, “Can someone over there help McEnroe with Zverev’s name? The V is SILENT. He’s been making a mess of this for years. How do you broadcast a match and be clueless about the players? 😖🇫🇷🎾”

The number of times McEnroe has mispronounced Zverev’s name made a viewer question their own knowledge. “Is McEnroe pronouncing Zverev’s name right? He uses 2 syllables for the first two letters: Zuh-verev. I always thought it was a blended ZV sound.” Well, they’re right. The ZV sound is supposed to be blended. However, highlighting how the 65-year-old pronounces it, another exclaimed, “the way john mcenroe pronounces zverev pisses me off so bad. there’s no e between the z and the v but he adds one every time and it’s so annoying to listen to.”

What do you feel about McEnroe’s recent blunders while commentating? Let us know your views in the comments below.