"Beyond disrespectful & unprofessional";"Fire him" - Fans outraged by tennis insider's dig at Barbora Krejcikova's forehead during WTA Finals coverage

Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim has come under fire from fans for taking a dig at Barbora Krejcikova's appearance. Wertheim made the controversial comment during his coverage of the 2024 WTA Finals.

Krejcikova produced a stellar run at the WTA Finals, beating Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the group stage to reach the semifinals in Riyadh. The Czech then battled it out against Zheng Qinwen, who claimed a 6-3, 7-5 victory in their riveting clash to advance to the final of year-end championships. Coco Gauff booked her place against Zheng with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Aryna Sabalenka.

Jon Wertheim joined journalist Steve Weissman and former World No. 1 Tracy Austin on the Tennis Channel to preview the blockbuster title clash. During the broadcast, Wertheim suggested that Zheng Qinwen's coach Pere Riba could give the Chinese a tactical edge in the contest, given his experience with coaching Gauff.

The controversy erupted when footage from a commercial break was accidentally aired live, capturing Jon Wertheim taking a sly dig at Barbora Krejcikova's appearance. After checking his own appearance in the camera and commenting about his forehead looking big, Wertheim made a jab about Krejcikova having an "eighthead" to mock the size of her forehead.

"What do you think I am? Barbora Krejcikova. Look at the forehead when Krejcikova and Zheng take the court. Eighthead," Wertheim said.

Fans were outraged by Wertheim's "disrespectful and unprofessional" comment about Barbora Krejcikova, speculating that he would attempt to dismiss it as a joke. One fan expressed concern about what other disparaging remarks he and other reporters might be making about players behind their backs.

"Beyond disrespectful and unprofessional. he’s been vile though, this is no surprise to me," one fan commented.

"So unprofessional. Can't wait for the inevitable apology saying that he didn't mean it and that it was just a joke," another fan chimed in.

"What possessed him to talk about someone's looks like that? I wonder what other stuff he and maybe even other reporters have said behind players backs 😕," said another.

Several fans also argued that Jon Wertheim's comment had unveiled the "real him," which was in sharp contrast to the "self-righteous" and intellectual image he typically portrayed.

"And on air he tries so hard to come off as some genteel intellectual who's sensitive to the plight of the oppressed. This is the real him," a fan posted.

"Legitimately a disgusting person especially for how self righteous he is on twitter constantly giving takes nobody asked for," another fan remarked.

Others, meanwhile, urged the Tennis Channel to "fire" the 53-year-old for mocking Krejcikova's appearance.

"Is this fine with you @TennisChannel?@Jon_wertheim should be taken off air of the WTA Finals for mocking the forehead of a player. Vile person," one fan wrote.

"FIRE HIM @TennisChannel ARE U SERIOUS LOL," another fan chimed in.

"Pretty disappointed to see @jon_wertheim disparaging a player's appearance. Wasn't funny and @TennisChannel is lax in letting this get out and be seen by the public. On second thought, better to see what these people are really like. Jon, you owe Barbora Krejcikova an apology!" said yet another.

"It has to go by points" - Daria Kasatkina objects to Barbora Krejcikova's qualification for WTA Finals 2024

Barbora Krejcikova (Source: Getty)

Daria Kasatkina recently criticized Barbora Krejcikova's qualification for the 2024 WTA Finals, questioning the unique rule that allowed the Czech to participate. Under tournament guidelines, the first seven spots at the year-end championships are allocated to the highest-ranked players before the event.

The final spot, meanwhile, can go either to the player ranked eighth or a player within the 8-20 range who won a Grand Slam title during the season. This rule allowed World No. 13 Krejcikova to qualify after her triumph at Wimbledon.

However, World No. 9 Daria Kasatkina objected to this rule for facilitating Barbora Krejcikova's participation in the WTA Finals. In an interview with The National, Kasatkina expressed her belief that the qualification for the year-end championships should be based solely on the WTA Race rankings.

"In my opinion, the WTA Race is the WTA Race. So it's about the how many points you earn during the year. If you win a Grand Slam, you already got what you achieved. You won the Grand Slam, points, money, glory, everything. Here it's the WTA Race. So I think in this scenario, it has to go by points," Kasatkina said.

Daria Kasatkina made the remarks after her resounding 6-1, 6-0 loss to Iga Swiatek in the group stage of the WTA Finals. The Russian played just one match in Riyadh, stepping in as the first alternate after Jessica Pegula's mid-tournament withdrawal.