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John McEnroe drew the ire of the tennis community, after a report claimed the American suggested the Australian Open organizers should've moved Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova's quarterfinal clash from Rod Laver Arena to Margaret Court Arena.
The Rod Laver Arena's night session on Tuesday was delayed due to long matches between Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff, followed by a legends' doubles match featuring former players Marcos Baghdatis and Mark Philippoussis. Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka's start to the last-eight outing was pushed past 8 p.m., marking the second time in a fortnight she stepped onto the court late.
Sabalenka and her Czech opponent also declined the organizers' suggestion to switch to the Margaret Court Arena, which had no matches on its schedule.
John McEnroe then debated with his fellow Eurosport host Barbara Schett-Eagle about how the above situation could've been avoided. While Schett-Eagle questioned placing a legends' doubles match in the already-packed schedule at the Rod Laver Arena, the eight-time Major winner reportedly criticized Sabalenka and Krejcikova for turning down the organizers' attempt to solve the late-start problem.
Most tennis fans, however, were unhappy with the apparent criticism of the WTA players. One fan even felt that this behavior was representative of the "blatant misogyny in the tennis world."
"Just another day of blatant misogyny in the tennis world," they wrote.
Another fan, meanwhile, asserted that Aryna Sabalenka shouldn't have to adjust as the defending champion in Melbourne. They also praised the Belarusian for her 6-2, 6-3 victory over Barbora Krejcikova.
"Why should defending champion and #2 adjust, also the only player who actually got her job done in less than 1.5 hrs," they wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from social media:
John McEnroe was also called out by fans for his allegedly ignorant comments at last year's Australian Open
John McEnroe found himself in hot water at the Australian Open a year ago too, over his allegedly ignorant remarks about Shang Jungcheng following the latter's maiden Major victory.
Unpacking the men's singles action, McEnroe poked fun at the Chinese youngster's nickname 'Jerry', questioning whether his parents used the famous cartoon show Tom and Jerry as an inspiration.
"What is this Chinese guy's name? Jerry? How did they come up with Jerry? Is he the only guy from China named Jerry? Did his parents watch Tom and Jerry?" John McEnroe said while covering the Melbourne Slam for ESPN.
Fans were far from impressed with the former player-turned-analyst's attempt at humor. One of them even called for the American to lose his job as a tennis pundit.
"Amazing that McEnroe kept his job after his epic failures at competence, but it would be a real sin if he kept it after this," they wrote last year.
