What is the controversy with Barbora Krejcikova that has got the fans outraged during the WTA Finals

Barbora Krejcikova was at the center of attention after the Czech star was disrespected by a tennis journalist during her WTA Finals outing. Famous tennis journalist Jon Wertheim commented on Krejcikova's appearance during the coverage of the WTA Finals.

Krejcikova impressed during the WTA Finals, beating Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in the group stage before being knocked out in the semifinal by Qinwen Zheng. The Chinese star won the match in straight sets to reach the final of the WTA Finals for the first time.

However, the controversy erupted when Jon Wertheim was previewing the semifinal clash between Krejcikova and Zheng on the Tennis Channel. The journalist was seen talking about the appearance of both players, but mostly Krejcikova during the commercial break. The footage was accidentally aired leaving fans stunned by Wertheim's comments.

While checking out himself on the camera, during the break, Wertheim took a sly dig at Krekcikova's big forehead. The tennis journalist claimed that the Czech star has an 'eighthead' while making a joke about her appearance.

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

The tennis fans were left outraged by the comments and labeled them as 'disrespectful and unprofessional'. Some fans felt that Wertheim would soon apologize for his comments calling them a joke.

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

"very uncool. Not surprised actually. I've seen him come a bit off-putting a few times in his column. But this is beyond the pale," another fan said.

There were some calls to fire Jon Wertheim from the Tennis Channel after his controversial statement. However, there has been no news or apology for the matter so far from either Wertheim or Tennis Channel.

Daria Kasatkina takes a dig at Barbora Krejcikova's WTA Finals qualification

Daria Kasatkina has taken objection to Barbora Krejcikova's WTA Finals inclusion despite being ranked lower than the top 10 players in the world. According to the WTA Finals qualification rules, the top seven-highest ranked players qualify for the finals and the eighth position goes to the eight-highest player or a player within the 8-20th rank who has won a Grand Slam during the year.

Krejcikova was awarded eighth place after she won the Wimbledon Championship in July, costing a WTA Finals place to Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina. Navarro's decision to skip the tournament as a replacement opened up the opportunity for Kasatkina, who replaced the injured Jessica Pegula for the last match of the round-robin.

Kasatkina was eventually defeated by Iga Swiatek in straight sets but launched a stunning attack on the WTA Finals ranking rule after her match. Speaking to the media, Kasatkina suggested that the WTA Finals should be based solely on the top eight rankings and a Major win during the season should not be a factor.

"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 is currently ranked as the World No. 9 while Barbora Krejcikova is ranked as the World No. 13 in the WTA rankings.