Overview
- During her Futurock program, Julia Mengolini said professional tennis players are "tontos" and claimed the sport erodes abstract thinking and vocabulary.
- The Asociación Argentina de Tenis issued an official statement expressing an "energetic repudiation," calling the phrasing offensive and defending tennis’ formative, inclusive role.
- Mengolini responded on social media and in interviews that it was a joke, mocked the communiqué, and said she would not apologize, asserting that offense would "confirm" her hypothesis.
- Former top player Diego Schwartzman criticized the comments as "of bad taste" and said an apology would suffice to close the episode.
- The remarks were made while discussing ex‑ATP player Diego Hartfield’s election in Misiones with about 37% of the vote for La Libertad Avanza, and the dispute remains active without announced sanctions.