"Gets you this lazy a** woman who's clearly never seen Elena Rybakina in real life" - Fans furious over commentary debacle at Australian Open

Tennis fans were left fuming when a commentator repeatedly mispronounced Elena Rybakina's name during the 2025 Australian Open. Rybakina's best performance at the Melbourne Major came in 2023 when she finished as the runner-up, falling to Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Rybakina kicked off her 2025 season by representing Kazakhstan at the United Cup. She helped her team reach the semifinals before being defeated by the Iga Swiatek-led Team Poland. Currently, the former World No.3 is competing at the Australian Open where she is seeded sixth.

Rybakina commenced her campaign in Melbourne with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over wild card Emerson Jones in the first round. Most recently, she triumphed over qualifier Iva Jovic 6-0, 6-3 in the second round to secure her spot in the third round.

During Rybakina's match against Jovic, fans were irked by the commentator's continuous mispronunciation of the her name.

This error angered fans, who took to social media to voice their discontent. One fan criticized the commentator as being "lazy" and failing to take the time to properly learn Elena Rybakina's name before going on air.

“Slams getting commentary by anchors with zero experience in tennis, gets you this lazy a** woman who clearly has never seen Rybakina in her life, smh," a fan posted.

Several fans expressed their disappointment at the mispronunciation of Rybakina's name, who is a Grand Slam winner and a top 10 player, calling it "embarrassing," "disrespectful" and "unprofessional."

“It'd be one thing if Rybakina wasn't a top player... but this is all the more embarrassing and unprofessional considering her pedigree as a player," a fan wrote.

“Something like that??? this is so disrespectful," a fan posted.

“A grand slam commentator not knowing how to pronounce rybakina (a literal wimbledon champion and have been on the top 10 for a while) is WILD. "somethin' like that" @*#^$; that woman don't know who she is," a fan wrote.

Here are some other fan reactions:

“Does this commentator have trouble putting letters together. wow," a fan posted.

“A disgrace to the profession," a fan wrote.

“What kind of sh*t commentator do you have to be to not know how to pronounce the world #6 and a previous finalist's name," a fan posted.

---

Elena Rybakina will face Dayana Yastremska in Australian Open 2025 3R

In Picture: Elena Rybakina at the 2025 Australian Open [Image Source: Getty Images]

Elena Rybakina will take on the 32nd seed, Dayana Yastremska in the third round of the 2025 Australian Open. This will be the first time that these two players will meet on the WTA Tour

Yastremska kicked off her 2025 season at the Brisbane International, where she fell in the second round to Anastasia Potapova. She then competed at the Hobart International, making it to the quarterfinals before being defeated by eventual champion McCartney Kessler.

At the Melbourne Major, Dayana Yastremska started strong by defeating Mayar Sherif 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. She continued her winning streak by dominating Danka Kovinic 6-0, 6-1 in the second round to secure her spot in the third round where she will face Rybakina.

The victor of the third round clash between Elena Rybakina and Yastremska will advance to face one of four players in the fourth round - 19th seed Madison Keys, 10th seed Danielle Collins, or qualifiers Destanee Aiava or Elena-Gabriela Ruse.