I’m tired of hearing out-of-touch tennis players from 30 yrs ago, telling us what kind of tennis stars we need. First it was Jimmy Arias complaining that Iga Swiatek wears her hat too low. Now it’s John Lloyd saying that that Carlos Alcaraz isn’t enough of a womanizer. Crazy!
"Gross, unprofessional, sexist": Tennis fans criticize John Lloyd's comments saying Carlos Alcaraz needs "young ladies on his arm"
Tennis NewsSunday, 13 August 2023 at 14:20
Tennis fans have taken to social media to criticize John Lloyd's comments regarding Carlos Alcaraz after he said that the Spaniard needs 'young ladies on his arm' like Andre Agassi.
World No. 1 Alcaraz has taken the tennis world by storm in the last few years. The 20-year-old already has two Grand Slam titles to his name, and recently defeated seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic at the All England Club.
However, on an episode of the Rock n Roll Tennis podcast, Chris Evert's ex-husband Lloyd suggested that tennis needed more players being seen with female celebrities as it brought more attention to the sport. Nevertheless, he added that he doesn't think Alcaraz will be the player to do this.
Lloyd says tennis needs more Agassi-like figures
"We need superstars like Andre Agassi. He was regularly spotted with female celebrities. For me it just makes our sport… it just goes above the level when you’ve got superstars that people that don’t even like tennis," he said.
The 68-year-old then went on to add that Alcaraz will probably be a star in terms of winning tournaments, but that he couldn't see him acting like Agassi.
"Someone, I think who is going to win so many tournaments anyways is Carlos Alcaraz... He’s not afraid of the cameras. But I can’t really see him going out to nightclubs with young ladies on his arm."
Fans react with outrage
Following these comments, many fans have expressed their outrage, calling Lloyd's words 'misogynist' and 'unprofessional'.
"I’m tired of hearing out-of-touch tennis players from 30 yrs ago, telling us what kind of tennis stars we need. First it was Jimmy Arias complaining that Iga Swiatek wears her hat too low. Now it’s John Lloyd saying that Carlos Alcaraz isn’t enough of a womanizer. Crazy!" wrote one Twitter user.
Meanwhile, another said that there was nothing wrong with bringing attention to the sport by being nice to people.
"John Lloyd’s comments are so backwards & misogynist- Agassi ended up being in such a bad mental state that he was doing crystal meth [...] Carlitos is bringing so many eyeballs to the sport, and doing it by playing exciting tennis and being a nice," they commented.
At the same time, many simply shared their anger at Lloyd's notions, with one writing:
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