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Tennis fans did not take well to Feliciano Lopez's response to Andy Murray's tweet, where the latter jokingly demanded a cake for his 36th birthday.
Lopez is the director of the Madrid Open and he received a lot of backlash for some of the controversies during the tournament. The most notable of those was the birthday cake situation, where Carlos Alcaraz was given a huge cake on turning 20 while a much smaller one was given to Aryna Sabalenka on turning 25.
Andy Murray, who turned 36 on May 15, took to Twitter and jokingly claimed that he would be furious if he did not get a cake which was just as big as the one Alcaraz got in Madrid, if not bigger.
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"If I don’t get a cake of equal size if not slightly bigger than Alcaraz today im going to be absolutely f**king furious," Murray tweeted.
Feliciano Lopez responded to Murray's tweet with one of his own, where he stated that he hoped to arrange something. The Spaniard later went on to delete the comment after receiving a lot of criticism from fans.
Several fans lashed out at Lopez for responding to Murray's tweet while not saying anything about the controversies at the Madrid Open. One fan said that the 41-year-old could arrange anything as long as it was for men.
"You can arrange anything as long as it’s for men I guess," the fan's tweet read.
Another fan criticized Lopez for joking about the birthday cake situation after the controversy surrounding the Madrid Open.
"Feliciano still making light of the situation after running a mess of a tournament which he's been publicly crucified for. It would be best to just take some responsibility and admit you got things wrong," the fan's tweet read.
Yet another fan criticized Feliciano Lopez for responding to Andy Murray's tweet, claiming that the Spaniard should not have done that so soon after the Madrid Open cake controversy.
"This was not a good idea at all. If you're getting hated, making a joke about what you're getting hated for a week later is probably a bad idea," the fan's tweet read.
Here are some more fan reactions:
Feliciano Lopez tried to justify why Carlos Alcaraz received a larger birthday cake compared to Aryna Sabalenka
While many, including Victoria Azarenka and Bianca Andreescu, criticized the decision to give Carlos Alcaraz a bigger birthday cake compared to Aryna Sabalenka, Feliciano Lopez defended it and expressed his surprise at the backlash. He also listed some reasons behind Carlos Alcaraz receiving a bigger birthday cake.
"I’m surprised by this reaction after this gesture! 1. Carlos had just won his match to reach the final, 2. He was playing on centre court. 3. The tournament is played in Spain, even though it is an international event. PS: I hope Rune wasn’t also upset by his treatment," Feliciano Lopez tweeted.
Lopez, still an active player, has played three tour-level singles matches so far this season, with his only win coming in the opening round of the Mexican Open. His most recent appearance on the ATP tour came at the Barcelona Open, where he lost to David Goffin in the first round.
