"1 Sam Querrey > 2 John McEnroes" - Journalist calls on ESPN to bring new blood into commentary booth for Wimbledon amid recent controversy

Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg has called on ESPN to give younger commentators a shot in the booth for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. This comes after the recent backlash that John McEnroe’s has received for his commentary at majors. Rothenberg claimed that Sam Querrey would do a better job than the former World No. 1.

Over the past couple of Grand Slams, John McEnroe has been heavily criticized by fans for his bland commentary and lack of research while calling matches. At the 2023 US Open, the American referred to Matteo Arnaldi as a "complete unknown" in his fourth-round match against Carlos Alcaraz. In January, at the 2024 Australian Open, McEnroe received backlash from fans for not being familiar with Zizou Bergs' career when the Belgian faced Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the tournament.

John McEnroe's commentary during Novak Djokovic's third-round encounter with Lorenzo Musetti and Grigor Dimitrov's match against Zizou Bergs at the recently concluded French Open reignited controversy, with fans questioning his approach.

Recently, Sam Querrey has posted a few Instagram reels featuring him calling some of his matches and, most recently, the final of the Cinch Championships, where Tommy Paul defeated Lorenzo Musetti to lift the trophy.

On Friday, Ben Rothenberg made a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that he would prefer Sam Querrey to call Wimbledon this year. He went on to say that Querrey would perform better than McEnroe and that ESPN has been slow to bring in younger players from the recent generation who have played with the current players in their prime.

“ngl I’m wishing Sam Querrey were calling Wimbledon with how strong his Instagram reel auditions have been. ESPN has been *so* slow to get players from recent generations who actually played against current players in prime booth spots.

By my math: one Querrey > two McEnroes” - Ben Rothenberg tweeted

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A brief look at Sam Querrey and John McEnroe’s best performances at Wimbledon

John McEnroe and Sam Querrey (Images: All from Getty)

During their active years, John McEnroe and Sam Querrey regularly featured at Wimbledon. McEnroe, who retired in 2006, won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including the Wimbledon Championships in 1981, 1983, and 1984. In the doubles category, McEnroe also won nine Grand Slam titles and claimed the grass-court Major five times.

Sam Querrey, on the other hand, missed the tournament only once since making his debut in 2007. His best performance was reaching the semifinal in the 2017 edition, where he was defeated by Marin Čilić. Querrey also reached the quarterfinals in 2016 and 2019. Querrey's last appearance at the grass-court major was in 2022, when he was knocked out in the first round by Lithuania’s Ričardas Berankis.