With Wimbledon finished this year, the nation is left hungry for tennis. It’s difficult exactly what is magical about the tennis tournament, and current BBC sport commentator Andrew Castle certainly agrees.
“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes Wimbledon so special,” he told sports betting site Betway. “I could say that the tennis and the atmosphere is what brings it to life, but it still gets you even when it’s dormant and sleeping.”
“I have goosebumps when I arrive and nobody’s around. It’s just one of the great privileges to call it my place of work.”
“Kenneth Wolstenholme used up the greatest winning line ever in 1966,” he says, “so I was under pressure to come up with something!
“Ultimately, you don’t plan a winning line. The great thing about commentary is that you can use silence as a tool, and let the pictures do the work.
Andrew went on to talk about the 2013 men’s final, when Andy Murray became the first Brit to win the tournament in quite some time.
“Murray had three championship points at 40-0 up in the final game, lost them all, and was back at 40-40. The director pushed into Murray’s eyes and what you could see was a man trying with all of his heart and soul, feeling every emotion going.
“It was a beautiful shot. All I had to do was give a little line and back off. Throughout that game I kind of knew it was my job to lead viewers through the emotional turmoil.
“Something like 72 per cent of UK televisions were watching, so that was quite a responsibility. Hopefully we did it justice.”
“He said after his first match that he can’t understand why people keep asking him if this might be the end,” Castle says, “which is just perfect, really, because there’s no feeling like winning.
“He’s still doing it, he can still compete. Why would you stop? He’s still thrilled that he’s out there, as am I.”
Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic have produced an era of dominance and brilliance that seems unlikely to be topped. For Castle, it all begun in 2008 when Nadal met Federer in a third consecutive Wimbledon final, and finally beat him.
“That match changed the game. The gold standard of tennis improved in one match. They pushed each other to mad limits.
“I remember it was Tim Henman’s first Wimbledon final as a commentator. We both sat there in the commentary box in shock and awe.
“Of course, since then there have been more, mainly featuring Djokovic. He has just quietly won five Wimbledons – I remember the 2018 semi-final against Nadal, particularly. Another mind-boggling match.
“Nadal with his determination and muscularity is genius, but I have to say I think I’ve seen the best tennis come from Novak’s racquet. He came to the party slightly after the other two, but I think he might have been the most remarkable.”
