Tennis Channel slammed for hiring ‘mansplainer’ with ‘horrible take’ on Iga Swiatek

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Iga Swiatek in action

The Tennis Channel has come under fire for the make-up of their commentary team for the Washington Open with the controversial Jimmy Arias and the banned Jenson Brooksy in the line-up.

On Monday the American digital cable and satellite television network announced that former world No 5 Arias as well as current player Brooksby would join Geoff Chizever, Jason Goodall, Alex Gruskin, Brett Haber, Nick Monroe, Mark Petchey, Andrea Petkovic and Ari Wolfie in their “stellar lineup”.

But Arias and Brooksby’s involvement did not go down well on social media as the former has been slammed for his recent comments about world No 1 Iga Swiatek.

The American, who won five singles titles during his career, felt Swiatek has not been great for women’s tennis because she, erm, wears her hat too low.

“From my standpoint, I don’t think she’s been great for women’s tennis,” he said on the Inside In podcast.

“Because she wears her hat so low that you can’t even see her face or her eyes during a match, so you don’t get a connection as much as you could. I don’t mind her getting angry in some ways, but I want to see her personality.”

Arias’ comments even drew the ire of Nick Kyrgios with the Australian replying: “Another horrible take 😂”

And the Tennis Channel came in for flak on Twitter after they announced their line-up with one person writing: “So basically only one woman, but I guess we should be happy because we will get a mansplainer who will make sure we understand that WTA is not about winning tournaments but about what the women players wear?”

Another added: “90% are men. Then you have individuals like Jimmy Aires talking about the WTA. Unbalanced coverage and a patronizing tone are the norm. The sad thing is, they don’t even feel the need to pretend.”

One tweeted: “what is jimmy arias doing here? is he still on game after talking that bullshit about iga? 🤦🏼♀️”

Then there is the controversy about Brooksby as the American has been suspended by the International Tennis Integrity Agency for missing three doping tests. Brooksby denied doping, but he accepted the suspension.

“Jenson Brooksby gets suspended and gets a stellar job in the meantime. Not judging by any means, just came a surprise to me. Even the reason for the suspension is ‘stunning’!”

READ MORE: Iga Swiatek’s 2023 tennis schedule: Where is she competing next and her season so far…

Iga Swiatek Jimmy Arias Nick Kyrgios

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