French Open News: Tennis Fans Slam John McEnroe for ‘Spoiling’ Carlos Alcaraz and Sebastian Korda’s Intense Encounter

Do more, talk less! But what should one do when his job is to talk? American tennis legend, John McEnroe who loves chirping as much as he loves tennis, doing commentary for this beloved sport must be one of his dream jobs, right? But sometimes he even gets criticized for doing what he loves the most. Being John McEnroe ain’t easy! The 7-time Grand Slam champion was dubbed the original “Super Brat” who brought “crazed, nervous, energy,.. intensity, anger” to the court. And now, he’s getting criticized for his off-court deeds!

Tennis fans recently took a jibe at John McEnroe for constantly talking during the third-round match of the 2024 French Open between Carlos Alcaraz and Sebastian Korda. The Spaniard gifted a stellar performance to his fans by defeating the American 6-4,7-6(5),6-3 in that match. But fans weren’t at all happy with the performance of John McEnroe, the commentator, in that match.

He’s currently commentating for Eurosport and was recently seen getting reprimanded by fans for constantly talking during points. However, this isn’t the first time that his commentary has faced such a backlash from the fans. It happened during the 2023 Wimbledon Championships during a match between Carlos Alcaraz and Nicolas Jarry. During that third-round match, the American tennis legend suggested that Jarry was not well-known and that he would gain recognition in due course. This statement later on sparked a major discontentment among the fans.

They voiced out their frustration on social media, calling it pretty much “embarrassing” to undermine the popularity of Chile’s Nicolas Jarry. Even this year at the AO, John McEnroe was caught a bit off-guarded by a hilarious mix-up between him and Todd Woodbridge surrounding the nickname of Alex de Minaur (Demon). He also came under fire from fans in the same tournament for not knowing who Belgian tennis player Zizou Bergs was. John McEnroe has this unique ability to create controversy when there is none! 

Fans lash out at John McEnroe for his constant talking during Carlos Alcaraz’s second-round match against Sebastian Korda

Carlos Alacaraz has now reached the second week of a Grand Slam in 9 of his 13 appearances at majors. But let’s keep this aside for a moment as John McEnroe has yet again taken away all the limelight from this epic showdown in Paris. McEnroe is one of the icons of the tennis world and his contributions to the sport in enormous. But when it comes to his commentary, fans seem to be never too satisfied with it. A fan said, “I love John normally but he is suffering from a severe case of verbal diarrhoea tonight. Put a sock in it, mate.“

Surely he wasn’t too impressed with his commentary during Carlos Alcaraz’s match last night. John McEnroe joined Eurosport’s commentary team in the 2015 French Open and since then he has covered multiple heavyweight clashes. He is a vastly experienced commentator, but still, fans feel he totally spoiled the match with his constant talking during the points last night. “@eurosport @rolandgarros can someone please shut @JohnMcEnroe up. He’s totally spoiling this match,” said the other fan.

He was joined by another former ATP star, Chris Bradnam in the commentary box. Some of the fans felt pity for the poor Englishman as he had to tolerate John McEnroe throughout the match. One of the fans said, “Dipped in and out at various points and I have to say John McEnroe’s co-commentary on Korda vs Alcaraz was terrible. Far too much talk, lots of irrelevancy, and at times felt like he would rather be watching the match on Lenglen. Feel sorry for Chris Bradnam putting up with it.“

Facing the hatred isn’t something new for John McEnroe. He was once even named as the ‘third most-hated man‘ in history. But that was completely for his on-court behavior. Perhaps he would have never imagined that he had to hear “Is he drunk?” for his commentary. Some of the fans went a little further and added, “Is John McEnroe drunk on Comms for this Korda v Alcaraz game? Somebody sedate him or something,” 

While others wondered if there were any options to watch the match without the commentary. Another fan called it pretty much “unbearable“. He stated, “Is there any chance of having a ‘no commentary‘ option on the app coverage of the Alcaraz match? John McEnroe talks incessantly including when the ball is in play. Unbearable. Changed over to the other match as I did last night due to his waffle.” Share what are your thoughts on John McEnroe’s commentary in the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Sebastian Korda.