Tennis Analyst Yanked Off Air for Mocking Player’s Appearance

Tennis analyst Jon Wertheim has admitted he was a “jacka--” for making an “inappropriate” remark about the appearance of Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.

The Tennis Channel dumped Wertheim “indefinitely” after the player took him to task on social media over the comment.

Television bosses acted swiftly after Krejcikova slammed the “coverage that focused on my appearance rather than my performance.”

The analyst had been caught on mic making an inappropriate remark while preparing to discuss the 28-year-old champion’s match against Zheng Qinwen in the WTA finals last week in Saudi Arabia.

Unaware that the broadcast was live, the tennis expert joked about the size of the Czech player’s forehead.

“Who do you think I am, Barbora Krejcikova?” he quipped. “Look at the forehead when Krejcikova and Zheng take the court.”

The clip was circulated on social media and led to a complaint from the player herself.

Wertheim, a well-respected Sports Illustrated journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent, was taken off the air despite issuing a groveling apology to Krejcikova.

“During a Tennis Channel studio show on Friday, I made some deeply regrettable comments off-air. I acknowledge them. I apologise for them. I reached out immediately and apologised to the player,” he wrote in a “tennis Twitter apology.”

“I joined the show by Zoom. In rehearsal we were shown a graphic of a player who had just competed. It showed her at an angle that exaggerated her forehead. A few minutes later, I was told to frame up my Zoom. I looked at the low camera angle and joked that it made my forehead resemble the player in question.

“Someone in the control room chimed in and I bantered back. Though this was a private rehearsal, this exchange inadvertently, and without context, made it to live air. I realize: I am not the victim here. It was neither professional nor charitable nor reflective of the person I strive to be. I am accountable. I own this. I am sorry.”

Krejcikova hit back on X, writing: “As an athlete who has dedicated herself to this sport, it was disappointing to see this type of unprofessional commentary. This isn’t the first time something like this is happening in (the) sports world. I’ve often chosen not to speak up, but I believe it’s time to address the need for respect and professionalism in sports media.

“These moments distract from the true essence of sport and the dedication all athletes bring to the field. I love tennis deeply, and I want to see it represented in a way that honors the commitment we make to compete at this level,” she added.

The Tennis Channel responded by taking Wertheim off the air for the “inappropriate comment,” saying it “holds its employees to a standard of respectfulness for others at all times, a standard that was not met in this moment.”

Wertheim also apologized in an appearance on the Served With Andy Roddick podcast, saying he reached out immediately to apologize to Krejcikova.

“If we are going to be transparent and hold people accountable and call people out for acting like jacka--es when one of us acts like a jacka-- and in this case that would be me, we need to make ourselves present and accountable,” he told Roddick.

“I’m full of regret and remorse and apology. It’s not been a great weekend,” he continued. “At some level, you’d like to hope context mattered a little and at some level you’d like to think a body of work mattered and you don’t get defined by your worst act.

“But like you said, I stepped in it. I made a very uncharitable remark meant as self-deprecation but it involved a photo of Barbara Krecjikova. I know her agent very well. He’s been a nice agent, he’s also been a very good friend to me and so there’s been a lot of contact.

“They had the grace to give me a heads-up on their statement that they put out so I wouldn’t be caught flat-footed. I had the grace to give them my statement. Barbara is traveling right now, but I have every expectation we will sit down and I will be able to apologize in person.

“She doesn’t need this s--t. She won Wimbledon, she had a great season, and she just finished up a nice tournament in Riyadh. She doesn’t need to pick up her phone and hear about some jacka-- broadcaster on a hot mic and I feel bad.”