The men’s singles final at Wimbledon between world No.1 Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is a big even on BBC One, but the broadcaster received many complaints
The BBC have been urged to drop Andrew Castle from their Wimbledon commentary team after receiving a torrent of complaints on social media. Castle has long been a key member of the broadcaster’s Wimbledon coverage and is commentating on the men’s singles final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
Castle, 61, reached the second round at Wimbledon in 1986 and 1987 when he was Britain’s No.1. He reached the final of the Australian Open mixed doubles in 1987, but is now better known as a broadcaster, having become a fixture on the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage.
BBC One’s build-up to the Sinner vs Alcaraz match involved insight from Tim Henman, Todd Woodbridge, John McEnroe and Pat Cash, with Clare Balding presenting. But when the time came to go to the commentary box, it was Castle leading things, prompting his name to go viral on X.
“Why oh why do the BBC put Andrew Castle on lead commentary for the Men’s Singles final every year, he’s terrible. My ears have already start to bleed,” one comment read. Another added: “Massive build up to this #WimbledonFinal and then BBC put Andrew Castle on commentary. Way to kill the match for me before it even starts.”
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“Wow Andrew Castle is so bad he is already trending internationally,” one fan wrote. “Heart sinks when I hear the words ‘… and your commentator is Andrew Castle’. Ruins enjoyment of every match. @BBCSport needs to cut the chord,” another pleaded.
Another post read: “Andrew Castle being given such an important role in this final after all of the complaints about him in the semi is embarrassing. He really adds zilch to the commentary booth.”
It isn’t the first time that Castle has trended during the two weeks of Wimbledon, with the appearance of Andre Agassi in the commentary box having an unintended consequence. The former Wimbledon champion joined the BBC team for the semi-final between Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz, sparking lots of positive reviews from tennis fans, but also some highlighting how much better he is than Castle.
It is likely an opinion that Nick Kyrgios agrees with, having clashed with the British commentator during his stint with the broadcaster in 2024. Kyrgios accused Castle of being disrespectful for his comments about big-servers Fritz and Alexander Zverev while commentating.
The BBC have used the likes of McEnroe, Henman, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Cash, Tracy Austin and Annabel Croft as pundits this year, with Castle, Andrew Cotter, Jo Durie, Anne Keothavong, Nick Mullins and Woodbridge among the commentators.
Meanwhile, Marion Bartoli, Kim Clijsters, Laura Robson, Greg Rusedski, Naomi Broady, Daniela Hantuchova and Leon Smith have been used as pundits on BBC Radio 5 Live.