John McEnroe couldn’t help but mention two of tennis’ best as Alexander Zverev claimed the US Open trophy.
In the moments following the 29-year-old German’s victory over Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday, ESPN’s play-by-play caller Chris Fowler started out the concluding call with “So the drought continues, but the rebirth of Sasha Zverev also continues into 2027. Down under awaits, huh?”
“It does,” McEnroe said before adding, “Get healthy Carlos and Jannik.”
“Please,” Fowler added.
“But for now, the moment belongs to Alexander Zverev, U.S. Open champion 2026. Well done,” Fowler concluded.
McEnroe rubbed fans the wrong way who felt the the timing of the comment didn’t seem appropriate — no matter how much fans may wish Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to be fully healthy.
“The commentary was incredibly distracting throughout the match, and the blatant bias was absolutely unbearable to listen to!” a fan posted on X.
“John definitely doesn’t like zverev,” another said.
A third said: “We failed to celebrate [Novak] Djokovic due to obsession over [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal. Lets not make same mistake again. This piece commentary is not coming from a good place.”
“Sorry, this should be the final straw for John McEnroe. Unprofessional, belittling the sport and stealing the spotlight from the champion and runner up seconds after victory,” someone else chimed in.
“The biggest distraction in the match was McEnroe’s annoying voice,” another wrote.
Many felt it took away from Zverev’s achievement — his second career Grand Slam title (first in Queens) and second of the year. He also took the crown at Roland Garros, beating Flavio Cobolli in five sets.
In bringing up Sinner and Alcaraz, McEnroe reminded the audience that in both slams, Zverev avoided either player.
Alcaraz, who was out for four months with a wrist injury, sat out of Roland Garros while Sinner struggled in the heat and exited in the second round.
Months later, Sinner won Wimbledon in four sets over a near-perfect Zverev performance. The 25-year-old later pulled out of the U.S. Open due to a right knee injury while Alcaraz lasted until the quarterfinals where he fell in five sets to Shelton in a late night battle.
Still, without the two top players, Zverev has found a way to beat everyone else.
He had all the momentum over Shelton on Sunday and looks poised to have a shot at a world No. 1 ranking before the end of the tennis calendar.
Yet world No. 1 Sinner made a decision on Monday that could prevent that.
The Italian will play and try to defend his title at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna in October, the ATP 500 tournament announced. Sinner defeated Zverev last year for the title, of which he also won in 2023 over Daniil Medvedev.
He is also the defending champion at the China Open, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals. After losing the U.S. Open final last year, the only tournament Sinner dropped was the Shanghai Master, where he retired due to cramping in the third round.
Sinner has held the ranking for 22 weeks after defeating Alcaraz in the Monte-Carlo Masters final in April. He is 1,810 points ahead of Zverev in the No. 2 spot in the official ATP rankings.
