The stage is all set to pick up a winner from the all-American clash at the Philippe-Chatrier, and guess what? Madison Keys has secured the first set by 7-6(2), but Coco Gauff is giving a tough fight in the second set. This is their sixth meeting on the Tour, and Keys has already won three of their previous encounters against the youngster. Gauff is entering this tournament following her impressive final runs in Madrid and Rome. While speaking of her opponent in this epic QF clash, Keys said, “Obviously, Coco is more dominant on clay, I would say it’s probably her best surface, so it will be a great challenge. For me, it’s about trying to attack but knowing that with her ability to cover the court, I’ll have to win each point many times before it’s over.” However, other than this heavy voltage clash, tennis legend Chris Evert’s commentary has now become the talk of the town on Wednesday. But why?

Well, several fans have now come out in numbers to take a jibe at Evert for constantly speaking during this nail-biting clash. Talking about this clash, Madison Keys is currently on an 11-match winning streak at the Grand Slams after having clinched the title in Melbourne earlier this year.

Talking about taking inspiration from Keys’ incredible start to her season, Gauff once admitted, “You know, I wasn’t surprised by her winning. I think she’s one of those players you play, and she’s just so good and she has the capability of beating anyone on any given day, and she certainly proved that in the past and certainly proved that in Australia. It’s great to see her finding her — I don’t even want to say finding her game, because she’s been playing great tennis for so long...”

Now, coming back to their incredible run in Paris, with her recent win over Hailey Baptiste, Madison Keys has now become the oldest American to reach the QF of the women’s singles on both the Australian Open and the French Open in a single season since Serena Williams in 2016. On the other hand, this is Coco Gauff‘s fifth consecutive French Open QF, and she is also the fourth-youngest player in the Open Era to secure this feat. Who’ll win this battle?

According to Jon Wertheim, “If Madi [Keys] picks apart that forehand or takes advantage of one of these walkabouts or these lapses or Coco’s serve isn’t clicking, then Madi has a real chance here. I think I am going to my first switch. I am thinking Keys [to win].” So far, if we look at the stats in this match, although this match looks quite tight, Gauff has already committed nine double faults in this match. That’s one big concern for the youngster at the moment, but on the other hand, fans are looking concerned with constant chirping from Chris Evert. What are they saying, though?

Fans aren’t too pleased with Chris Evert’s commentary 

Tennis fans getting annoyed by constant talking during an intense encounter is nothing new, especially at the French Open. Even last year, American tennis legend John McEnroe faced a brutal backlash from the fans for a similar reason during Carlos Alcaraz’s third-round match against America’s Sebastian Korda. Now, seeing Evert doing the same thing, one of the fans tweeted, “Please help with a stream where I don’t need to listen to Evert. I’m done.”

However, this isn’t the first time that Evert has faced criticism from the fans about her poor commentary skills. In 2023, during Iga Swiatek’s match against Jessica Pegula at the WTA Finals, she faced a backlash from the fans for her blatant bias towards the Pole. They accused her of talking more about Swiatek than Pegula and even alleged that Evert was rooting for the former world number one. Now, seeing her constant chatter during Coco Gauff’s match, another one commented, “Does Chris Evert ever shut up??? I get they’re commentators but even mid rally she’s chatting #RolandGarros.”

Even in 2024, there were quite a few of these incidents surrounding Chris Evert. For example, fans witnessed quite a few slip-ups from her during the third-round clash between Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina. Despite the Ukrainian dominating the proceedings right from the start of that match, Evert was accused of constantly praising her compatriot and not doing much to recognize Svitolina’s efforts. Her commentary has always made the headlines somehow or other but for the wrong reasons. Now, seeing this moment during Madison Keys’ match against Gauff, a few of them even said, “Please break her to win the set so Evert can stop talking about you like you’re some bum.“

Just before that incident at the 2024 US Open, Chris Evert had even faced severe criticism for commenting on Naomi Osaka’s on-court outfit. She had said, “I like the dress…it suits her, it suits the Japanese culture.” However, after hearing this, some of the fans accused her of taking a subtle dig at the Japanese culture which created a lot of buzz at that time. Reacting to this recent moment at the French Open, a few of them said, “the way chris evert just talks through the whole match is so funny.“

In 2024, during Karolina Muchova’s match against Naomi Osaka, Evert stirred a bit of controversy after her comments on the Czech star, “She plays like a guy. She wants to play like a guy. The guys have bigger serves than the women, they have better volleys for the most part, they move a little bit better.” After hearing this, her fellow tennis star, Ons Jabeur, stepped in to show support for Muchova by saying, “Muchova is an amazing talented player. She doesn’t have to be a guy to have great serve, volley, or movement. Can we please stop stereotyping based on gender?” Following this incident, Evert had to apologize for causing “offense” with her comment.

Now, her commentary has yet again become the talk of the town! Some of them took a jibe at the tennis legend, saying, “Chris Evert is the most unbearable commentator, the dull boring tone & that god awful accent🥴🥴 And just like Rio she just doesn’t ever shut up for a second.“

Before this, her commentary came under fire from the fans during Alexander Zverev’s second-round match. What are your thoughts on these incidents, and who do you think will win this match featuring the two Top 10 Americans?