Two months after being suspended “indefinitely” by the Tennis Channel, Jon Wertheim appeared on the air without explanation on January 6, 2025. He was on the air remotely talking about Coco Gauff’s performance at the United Cup.
Changing of the guard atop the women’s game? 💂♂️#TCLive has Coco ahead of Iga for the #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/FWlUnKYInn
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 6, 2025
Why Jon Wertheim Was Suspended
Wertheim was suspended after making derogatory comments about Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova on November 9, 2024, during one of her matches at the 2024 WTA Finals. Appearing remotely on a live shot, Wertheim was unaware he was on television when he commented about Krejcikova’s forehead.
Reilly Opelka, who made huge strides in his comeback to tennis this week, shared on his Instagram story at the time that he was not surprised by the situation. During his two-year injury layoff, he was a frequent Tennis Channel contributor and analyst appearing in the Los Angeles studio. Opelka said, “The classic hot mic… Amateur hour @tennis media.”
Krejcikova issued a long social media post expressing her feelings about the situation, and Jon Wertheim apologized publicly to Krejcikova. When he was suspended “indefinitely,” some wondered if the network would fire him. Wertheim is a busy man with many other roles that went on per usual including as co-host of Andy Roddick’s Served podcast, and contributor to 60 Minutes and Sports Illustrated, to name a few.
Interesting Timing For Wertheim’s Return
Though unrelated, his reemergence on the same day as the lawsuit against Fox Sports, Joy Taylor, and Skip Bayless is ironic. Sports media personalities are given plenty of latitude to speak and conduct themselves in questionable ways.
The Tennis Channel allowed Wertheim to come back one week before the Australian Open. Part of his indefinite time off the air was the brief tennis offseason. In another twist of irony, Krejcikova recently announced that she withdrew from the Australian Open with a lingering back injury. She is one of four Grand Slam champions who have withdrawn from this year’s tournament.
