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.”
