When it comes to watching flagship sporting events in the summer, few are more prestigious than Wimbledon. The showpiece tennis event is one of the major Grand Slam events that a player can win. Winning Wimbledon is seen as one of the biggest prizes that a player can collect in their career, regardless of gender or playing singles/doubles. However, even getting to the position of being a lead commentator can be tough work.
As you listen to this years Wimbledon commentary, you might recognise a familiar voice; Andrew Castle. Castle has been the lead commentator on the BBC for years as one of the key names in their tennis coverage. Erudite and informative, Castle has a strong audience of fans who enjoy his insight, game passion, and interest in giving fans a more rounded understanding of how tennis works as a whole. For that reason, then, his role as lead commentator within the BBC is very much secured.
How, though, did he go to land this job? In a recent Betway interview, Castle was able to push quite openly on how he came to be part of the BBC tennis coverage.
How did Andrew Castle join the BBC commentary?
Speaking about how the role came about, Castle was clear in what happened, saying to Unibet: “I remember being up in Slaley Hall in Northumberland during the first week of Wimbledon,” he says. “I was covering the golf for Sky Sports.
“I was sitting there in my room thinking: ‘It’s a bit mad that I’m doing the golf when all this tennis is going on’. I called an old friend who was actually in charge of the Wimbledon broadcast and managed to get on board with that, luckily.
“My first commentary was a Rafael Nadal match out on court 12, and I remember him standing out.It grew from there. Now I get to sit in the Centre Court commentary box with these legends watching guys like Nadal and Roger Federer. How lucky is that?”
He continued on, stating that his first paying job within sports commentary was with tennis for Sky. There, he would “work with Sue Barker in a small airless box in a car park in Isleworth” – quite the change, then, from the opulent studios that he gets to work in these days as a key BBC commentator.
Castle also worked as part of GMTV in the 2000s, taking his career as a tennis player and into the role of sports coverage. However, he would not only cover tennis, but various other sports, showing a rounded knowledge of the sporting world beyond the court that he had taken part on as a player.
Asked about what it takes to commentate on something that you have not done for a living, Castle summed it up perfectly by saying: “I don’t really know what qualifies you to commentate or present on any particular subject other than a vigorous amount of research to do it justice,”
So, how did Castle get into the top ranks at the BBC? Hard work and commitment
