The 2024 Wimbledon Championships have been more than eventful. While on one hand, the tournament has experienced many upsets, on the other, fans have been cut up with the broadcasters over the poor coverage of the tournament despite the intriguing action. One major factor for this is the commentary, as the likes of John McEnroe have constantly received flak over this. However, when a critic vented out frustration toward the American legend, fans were quick to add others to the panel like Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

The trio are among the commentators at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. While McEnroe and Navratilova have regularly featured this year, Evert is making a comeback after battling cancer. Despite this, fans weren’t happy with the coverage and took to social media to give their opinions.

This is not the first time the commentators have received flak for their job. Earlier on in this tournament, McEnroe was slammed for his ‘lame’ ESPN stint. During Novak Djokovic’s opening-round match against Vit Kopriva, controversy erupted when McEnroe talked non-stop, even during the points. As a result, it gave out a poor viewing experience despite the thrilling action taking place on the court.

On another occasion, McEnroe was slammed for his insensitive comment toward World Number 1, Iga Swiatek. The American legend was also commentating during the French Open final. After Swiatek won the title, he questioned if the Polish star would “throw on a little makeup” before the presentation ceremony. All this piled up and a critic took to social media to suggest, “Tennis has got to move on from McEnroe. It’s just time.” This comment invited several reactions from fans, with many adding the names of Navratilova and Evert to this list.

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert catch strays as John McEnroe faces heat from fans

The trio have done little to impress fans as far as their commentary is concerned at the ongoing Wimbledon. So when a critic pointed out McEnroe’s commentary, fans were quick to add Evert and Navratilova to this. The two great rivals and friends have constantly spoken about historic topics while commentating, and this was pointed out by a fan, who said, “Add Chrissie, Martina, Billy Jean…to reach a younger audience you can’t talk about things that happened 50 years ago…”

Further, some fans picked out the ones that should be removed from the commentator’s panel. Among them were the names of McEnroe and Navratilova.

Meanwhile, tennis is getting younger with each passing day as more and more players are leaving their mark on the circuit. Take for example Carlos Alcaraz, who at just 21, has already won 3 Grand Slam titles on 3 different surfaces. One fan felt, “I’m quite exhausted listening to him and his brother. The sport is younger and fresher; the commentary should match!! We have way better tennis players and people we could listen to.”

Lastly, one Twitter user pointed out the repeated mistakes in McEnroe’s commentary, and that is talking continuously between points. This causes distraction when a rally is on, leading to a poor viewing experience. As a result, the fan slammed McEnroe, saying, “He talks incessantly between points sometimes into the point. I think to hear what he’s thinking about the match interferes with the ebb and flow of the play.”

With tennis viewership declining over time, the broadcasters need to take a serious review of this situation. Do you think introducing younger and new-age commentators could solve this problem? Let us know your views in the comments below.