‘Time to get rid of him’ – John McEnroe savaged over response to Alexander Zverev’s US Open win

Richie Mills
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Pictured: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, with 2026 US Open champion Alexander Zverev (inset)
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, with 2026 US Open champion Alexander Zverev (inset)

John McEnroe has once again attracted the ire of tennis fans after his closing remarks in the wake of Alexander Zverev’s US Open final win over Ben Shelton.

The German won his first US Open and second Grand Slam of his career after beating Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 in three hours and 33 minutes on Sunday.

The 29-year-old, who won the French Open earlier this year, remains second in the ATP Tour rankings behind Jannik Sinner, but Zverev is 700 points ahead of the Italian in the ATP Race.

Following his triumph, he said, “I want to thank my team. We went 30 years without winning a Grand Slam title and now we’ve won two within the span of three months.

“I think God has seen how hard we worked, how much we suffered, how much pain we went through. I think 2026 is the outcome of all the years that happened before.”

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In the wake of the final, a statistic emerged that put Zverev‘s Grand Slam wins under the spotlight. In the history of the ATP rankings, no man had won multiple majors in a season without recording at least eight top 10 wins during that year.

But in 2026, Zverev has just two top 10 wins.

He won his French Open crown without having to face the injured Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner got knocked out early and in New York, the Italian withdrew due to a knee issue and the Spaniard was knocked out by Shelton in the quarter-finals.

You can only beat the players in front of you but it seems some people are not too enamoured with the 6ft 6in player winning majors.

At the end of ESPN’s US Open coverage, Chris Fowler highlighted how the 23-year wait for an American champion at Flushing Meadows continues, how Zverev is riding high after this “rebirth” and the 2027 Australian Open awaits.

McEnroe then interjected, “Get healthy Carlos and Jannik”, to which Fowler added, “Please.” The seven-time major winner let out a quick chuckle and by that point the damage had been done on social media.

One user wrote on X, “The biggest distraction in the match was McEnroe’s annoying voice,” and another commented, “I was only half paying attention at that point but McEnroe’s b***** comment stood out. Bitter little man…”

One tweeted an image of someone looking in the mirror, with the words, “Get in there and make it about you,” in reference to McEnroe’s comment, and one person wrote, “McEnroe is so pathetic. Makes every moment about himself, shows bias when his guy isn’t winning and is proven wrong predictions wise. Why ESPN includes him in every big match I don’t know.”

Another put, “Embarrassing to end it that way. Yes we all want everyone to be healthy but that was tasteless,” and one added, “McEnroe was and is an ***-hole. Time to get rid of him! Long overdue.”

Some did concur with McEnroe, though, saying it was the “only time” they would ever agree with the American, while others did admit he wasn’t wrong.

This comes a couple of weeks after McEnroe was criticised for his “despicable” comments in the wake of Mariano Navone’s shock first round win over Novak Djokovic.

It seems there is plenty of ill feeling towards the former world No 1.

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