Marketa Vondrousova’s inspiring run at the US Open ended not with a racquet drop, but with a heartbreaking decision to protect her body. Just hours before her quarterfinal showdown with Aryna Sabalenka, the reigning Wimbledon champion felt her knee flare up during warm-up—and made the only call a responsible athlete can: she withdrew.
Sabalenka responded like a true peer, offering support and sympathy. But tennis Twitter and podcast land? Not so graceful.
Brad Gilbert Demands Rule Change
Brad Gilbert—known more recently as Coco Gauff’s coach and once a guiding hand to Andre Agassi—took to his mic on Served and unleashed a wildly tone-deaf opinion. His solution to injury withdrawals? Punish players by banning them from the following week’s tournaments. No nuance. No medical context. Just a bureaucratic backhand to players navigating the brutal physical grind of the tour.
Gilbert rattled off examples of athletes who withdrew and reappeared in upcoming events, as if injuries heal on a clock and not a spectrum. The implication? That players might be gaming the system. The reality? Athletes are fighting tooth and nail just to stay in the game.
Marketa Vondrousova Bites Back
Vondrousova, never one to let nonsense slide, hit back with a blistering response on Instagram. Quoting Gilbert’s remarks, she snapped:
“Let’s give athletes a hard time for being injured. I’m disgusted with Brad too.”
That wasn’t just a caption—it was a callout.
The irony? Just days before, Gilbert had expressed sorrow for Vondroušová’s situation, calling her injury a bummer and praising her comeback. But sympathy means little when your next sentence contributes to the exact culture of doubt that pressures injured athletes to risk more.
Maybe it’s time Gilbert stepped off the mic and onto the physio table—just to feel what it’s like playing through pain. Until then, the court of public opinion belongs to those who’ve actually earned their bruises.