Former tennis player irked by umpire constantly mispronouncing Barbora Krejcikova's name during Qatar Open

Rennae Stubbs, a former tennis player, recently highlighted the constant mispronunciation of Barbora Krejcikova's name during her match at the Qatar Open.

Krejcikova was up against Veronika Kudermetova in the first round of the tournament, but lost 4-6, 6-3, 6(5)-7. The 11th-ranked Kudermetova thus recorded a second consecutive win against her Czech opponent, whom she also defeated at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters.

While the pulsating encounter had fans on edge, Rennae Stubbs was irked by the chair umpire, who failed to pronounce Barbora Krejcikova's name correctly.

"The umpire in this terrific match with @BKrejcikova @V_Kudermetova match is saying Krejcikova name incorrectly and its killing me! Come on umpires, you work the tour all year long and still DONT listen to the players pronunciation on the @WTA," Stubbs said.

The Australian, who also does television commentary, then drew attention to the WTA website which contains recordings of the names done by the players themselves.

Names being mispronounced by commentators during the US Open last year caused a furore on social media. Several tennis fans questioned why professionals didn't bother to learn the correct pronunciation.

Australian television channels have also been criticized for failing to get the names of German tennis stars like Jan-Lennard Struff right during their broadcasts.

Veronika Kudermetova, who registered wins against the likes of Bianca Andreescu, Danielle Collins, and Victoria Azarenka in Adelaide earlier this season, will take on Sofia Kenin in the Round of 16 of the Qatar Open.

Victoria Azarenka, Karolina Pliskova among tennis stars who got off to winning starts at Qatar Open

Victoria Azarenka in action at Qatar

Victoria Azarenka got her Qatar Open campaign off to a flying start. The former World No. 1 defeated Ipek Oz of Turkey 6-1, 6-1 in the first round.

Azarenka took just over an hour to get past her opponent, who sported the colors of her country's flag to highlight the recent earthquake that struck Turkey.

"İpek Öz came out with our flag and black ribbon to draw attention to the earthquake disaster in our country, in the match where she faced Victoria Azarenka, who is the former number 1 in the world, 17th place in the classification at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open tennis tournament held in Qatar," Turkey's tennis federation tweeted.

Karolina Pliskova, who won the Qatar Open title back in 2017, got past 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 7-5 in the qualifiers. She will face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Round of 32.

Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic also advanced in Doha thanks to a 6-2, 6-2 win against Martina Trevisan, and will face Carolina Garcia in the Round of 16.