Chris Evert
responded to accusations against her for mispronouncing
Zheng Qinwen's name
during the
US Open broadcasts. A user on X criticized Evert and the rest of the
ESPN commentators for not using the correct pronunciation of the 21-year-old
tennis player’s name.
The
targeted commentators were Cliff Drysdale,
Mary Joe Fernandez, and Pam Shriver,
while an Instagram user claimed that the name of the Paris 2024 gold medalist
is pronounced “Chin-wen” and not “Kin-wen.”
"Hey
@espn, please let Mr. Drysdale, Ms. Fernandez, and Ms. Shriver know that Qinwen
is pronounced as ‘Chinwen’ (closest to the Mandarin pronunciation). Not
‘Kinwen’. Please and thank you," the user captioned.
18-time
Grand Slam champion Chris Evert weighed in on the comments and responded that
the pronunciation she uses was confirmed by the player herself: "We
actually asked her directly, and she gave us that pronunciation!" the
former world No. 1 said.
Andy
Roddick also joined the discussion on social media, responding to Evert:
"Yes, but did you ask Ratazana on Twitter before committing to what Qinwen
told you to call her?" Roddick wrote on X jokingly.
Chrissie
Evert reposted the 2003 US Open champion’s response with a series of laughing
emojis.