"Why are you so envious? Or should I say racist?" - After Casper Ruud, journalist Ben Rothenberg faces brunt of K-pop fans for comments on BTS singer Jin

Following BTS fans' trolling of Casper Ruud after the Norwegian admitted to not listening to BTS' music, renowned tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg faced backlash from K-pop fans over comments he made about BTS singer Jin attending Ruud's match at the Korea Open.

Rothenberg took to Twitter to share a post from the ATP Tour and wrote about how a "BTS fella" sitting quietly instantly increases the engagement of a social media post.

"A reminder of where tennis sits in the pecking order of the pop culture world when a BTS fella (sitting there doing not much) utterly dynamites normal tennis social media engagement numbers like this."

However, Rothenberg's cheeky tweet did not go well with the Korean boy band's fans, who lined up immediately to troll the journalist. One user pointed out Rothenberg's statement of not doing anything and said the singer had come to just enjoy the match, sarcastically wondering if he had to perform everywhere he went.

"You expected him to do something? He was there to watch a game and not to entertain a loser like you!! B1TCH!!!

Another user pointed out the singer's fame as a cause of such high engagement rate on social media, something that is unlikely to happen in the case of others, including Rothenberg.

"HE is a Superstar of course he will gain engagement and attention. if it's you on that chair no one will give a damn."

Another user even went on to accuse the journalist of being jealous of the singer's popularity.

"That's a weird way to say you are jealous that your reports don't get the desired clout you want while a superstar brings so much clout just by appearing to a game unannounced, Ben."

Other fan reactions are as below:

Casper Ruud to lose World No. 2 spot to Rafael Nadal

Casper Ruud at the Laver Cup 2022

Following his defeat in the quarterfinals of the Korea Open in Seoul, Casper Ruud has surrendered his ATP second ranking to former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

Ruud jumped to the spot after his exploits at the US Open in New York, thus becoming the first Norwegian to achieve this feat. However, with his sudden loss at the Korea Open, Spaniard Nadal is set to return to the position next week.

With this result, Alcaraz and Nadal have become the first players from the same country to occupy the Top-2 spots in the ATP rankings since 2000, back when Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras held the honor.