"You are so vile"; "How's that not racism"- Fans lambast Chris Evert over "picture says it all" remark on Imane Khelif amid Paris Olympics controversy

Chris Evert's backing of the outrage against Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has seen the tennis legend being blatantly criticized by fans. Khelif has been subject to incessant hate following her 46-second Paris Olympics women's boxing bout against Italy's Angela Carini on Thursday, August 1.

Khelif started the bout on the offensive and dealt two heavy punches to Carini. Soon, the Italian, citing pain in her nose, abandoned the bout. Carini later tearfully claimed that she had never experienced anything like the Algerian's punches before, and cried foul over what she felt was an unfair fight.

Rumors that Khelif is a biological male and is participating at the Paris Olympics as a transgender woman soon gathered steam and spread like wildfire on social media. Many prominent names in the world of sports bought into them and condemned the Olympics for allowing the Algerian to compete and Chris Evert was one of them.

The former World No. 1 took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared Andy Murray's mother Judy Murray's repost of an update from a prominent sports journalist. The update featured an image of the referee holding Khelif's hand up on one side to confirm her win, while Carini looked hurt and dejected on another side. Judy opined that the contest shouldn't have been allowed and called for swab tests to be reintroduced for the sake of women's sports.

"This (Carini vs Khelif) should never have been allowed to happen. Bring back the swab test. Sport has to be fair and safe for biological women," Judy wrote.

Evert echoed Judy's sentiments in her repost.

"This picture says it all….," Evert wrote.

However, Evert's stance did not go down well with fans, with one set of them pointing out to the 69-year-old that Khelif is a biological woman.

"People have been fact-checking this horrid rumor all day but people like Chris Evert are still promoting it. The boxer was born female. Period," a fan wrote.

"She's a biological female who also competed in the last Olympics and lost. This is a case that has nothing to do with the issue you're referring to. Please check the relevant info on this topic," commented another fan.

"Much like your commentary shows you do no research you just speak words that makes no damn sense," another fan chimed in.

Another set of fans expressed their disgust at the 18-time women's singles Major winner.

"You are so vile," wrote a fan.

"Can’t believe my childhood hero is this. I’m so embarrassed I had your racquet," another fan commented.

"Such a vile and ugly spirit. You’d think someone whose health has suffered the way yours has would put a little bit of positivity in the world. But it appears you’re just as rotten on the surface as you are on the inside," another fan weighed in harshly.

"How is that not racism in plain sight?" asked an irate fan.

Boris Becker echoed Chris Evert's sentiments by backing author J. K. Rowling's opinion on the controversy

Boris Becker (Source: Getty)

Former ATP World No. 1 Boris Becker also perceived the rumors surrounding Khelif's gender as true. The German proceeded to share author J. K. Rowling's scathing assessment of Carini's encounter with Khelif. Rowling called Khelif a "bullying cheat" and also criticized the organizers for allowing the Algerian to participate in the prestigious Games.

"Word," Becker wrote on X to caption his share of Rowling's post.

Becker and Evert weren't the only prominent names in world sports to have mistakenly taken the rumors to be true. Martina Navratilova, Evert's fierce rival in the 1970s and 1980s, and swimmer Riley Gaines made the same mistake as well.