Chris Evert disagrees with John McEnroe advising young aspirants to opt for college over tennis academies
Chris Evert has disagreed with John McEnroe who advised young tennis aspirants to opt for college rather than join tennis academies.
Arguing that Carlos Alcaraz was "one in a billion", McEnroe claimed during a podcast that very few kids who attend tennis academies manage to succeed.
Evert, however, stressed that academies helped kids earn tennis scholarships to go to college while also striking a balance between education and the sport. Chris Evert chimed in on X (formerly Twitter):
"I agree with John on many levels, but not every Tennis Academy’s goal is to grind out professional tennis players, but to help kids earn tennis scholarships to get into good colleges. The tennis/education combination is the goal!"
John McEnroe had earlier aired his views on the subject stressing that studies had shown that it was physically and mentally healthier for kids to play other sports.
"All studies show, both physically & mentally, it’s healthier for kids to play other sports," McEnroe was quoted as saying.
Asserting that Carlos Alcaraz was a rare exception, McEnroe warned that for every person from a tennis academy who succeeded, there are a million who do not.
"For every person you hear that succeeds, there’s a million that don’t. Not everyone’s Carlos Alcaraz, he’s one in a billion. He’s just a freak. He’s an incredible player, but most kids have no business doing that.” he added.
Chris Evert had also disagreed with John McEnroe when the latter opined that tennis needed more characters like Nick Kyrgios.
"Always had a problem with that" - Chris Evert and John McEnroe differed strongly on players displaying on-court emotions
John McEnroe's take on Elena Rybakina not showing any emotion while winning the 2022 Wimbledon Championship title was strongly contested by Chris Evert. She posted on X:
"Personalities are great, but changing one’s nature or temperament for the sake of entertaining? Always had a problem with that!"
The seven-time French Open singles champion countered McEnroe who claimed he was in favor of witnessing more "explosive temper" and "emotions" on the court.
"I’d like to see a little bit more explosive temper, see the emotions, wear it on their sleeve, there’s a handful of people you see that, but I just saw someone win Wimbledon on the girl’s side (Rybakina) who didn’t show any emotion, so I don’t know if any of us wanna see that," McEnroe had said.
McEnroe also used Nick Kyrgios' example to highlight the kind of temperament he wanted to witness from players.
The Aussie, who lost the 2022 Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic, was fined for spitting at a spectator following his first-round win. Kyrgios was also pulled up for unsportsmanlike conduct during a fiery third-round clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas at SW19 last year.