Andrew Castle fires back at Andre Agassi after tense Wimbledon broadcast in Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz semi-final
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
While Andre Agassi was giving his take on how Taylor Fritz was playing, Andrew Castle kept pointing out celebrities sitting in the Royal Box. At one point, Castle mentioned former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, and Agassi cut in, saying, 'People watching are watching for tennis, not for this.' Many fans sided with Agassi online, saying they wanted more focus on the match than on celebrity spotting.
Andrew Castle says Andre Agassi Wimbledon comments were taken out of context
A month later, Andrew Castle spoke about the incident, telling Betway that it had been blown out of proportion.
'We had a laugh, and they took it out of context,'
he said.
Andrew Castle explained that after the broadcast, Andre Agassi even texted him to say how much fun he had and how much he enjoyed the day. According to Castle, Agassi was smiling when he made the remark, and it wasn't meant as a serious criticism.
Castle, who has been with the BBC since 2003, added that he changed his approach for the final two days later, mentioning only the former champions sitting in the Royal Box and avoiding other celebrity names.
Still, some viewers accused him of focusing too much on famous faces.
'It's not the case,'
Castle said, insisting that people sometimes hear what they expect rather than what's actually said.
Also Read:
Andre Agassi's first Wimbledon as BBC commentator draws fan attention
The semi-final was Andre Agassi's first time working as a commentator at Wimbledon. The 55-year-old, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, joined the BBC team for this year's tournament after making his debut as a TV analyst for TNT Sports during the French Open in May.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
He also appeared last month on Andy Roddick's Served Media YouTube show, where he discussed the sport with his former rival.
Although Andre Agassi was not on air for the men's final, fans have already called for him to return to the BBC team at SW19 next year.
The 2025 men's Wimbledon final, won by Carlos Alcaraz, drew 8.8 million viewers in the UK, showing just how much interest there is in both the tennis and the commentary that comes with it.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
21 minutes ago
- Time of India
'Eenie Meenie' singer Sean Kingston gets sentenced for 3.5 years for fraud scheme
Sean Kingston, the 'Eenie Meenie' singer, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme, where he exploited his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he never paid for. Sean Kingston gets arrested following his mother Earlier this year, the 35-year-old musician was convicted along with his mother, Janice Turner, on account of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and on four counts of committing wire fraud. Stealing luxury items, including watches, a television set, and furniture, the crime exceeded USD 1 million, according to the BBC. Moreover, the mother-son duo would send fake receipts to the victims when the payment was due. Turner was sentenced last month to five years after being convicted of all charges following the five-day trial in March. Meanwhile, Kingston apologized to the U.S. Judge David Leibowitz before he was sentenced in the South Florida courtroom on Friday, 15 August. Citing that he has learned from his actions, the singer's attorney requested that Kingston self-surrender on the later date. However, the judge denied his request, and the singer in handcuffs was led from the courtroom, according to AP. About Sean Kingston and his fraudulent receipts Sean Kingston, born Kisean Paul Anderson, was arrested in 2024 in California, where he was set to perform at an Army training base in the Mojave Desert. The Federal Prosecutors claimed that the 'Beautiful Girls' singer used to reach out to the victims on social media, proclaiming that he wanted to purchase the luxury goods from them and inviting them to his home. Promising to post the items on social media, Kingston also offered to champion the products to other high-profile celebrities. The key evidence used by the Prosecutors was a text message he sent to his mother as they were discussing creating fake receipts. 'I told you to make [a] fake receipt," he wrote in one, according to CBS. "Get the latest news updates on Times of India, including reviews of the movie Coolie and War 2 ."
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Cincinnati Open tennis: Sabalenka and Gauff crash out as Alcaraz survives to reach semifinals
World number one Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were sent crashing out of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday (August 15, 2025) as Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semifinals. Top seed and defending champion Sabalenka had no answer for Elena Rybakina, falling to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4. Reigning French Open champion Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini. Spain's second-ranked Alcaraz had his difficulties, but he broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner and will face third-seeded Alexander Zverev, who brought fifth-seeded Toronto champion Ben Shelton's run to an end with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Zverev earned a 4-1 lead in the second set as Shelton angrily tossed his racquet on the changeover, and the 2021 champion polished off the win on a second match point. He now has 24 hours to try to get fit. 'I'm not feeling too great now, but I have a day to get fresh,' Zverev said. 'I hope to be at 100%. 'I'm not sure what happened. I felt very well, but at the end of the first set, it got progressively worse. But I'll do all I can to give it a shot tomorrow.' Alcaraz was broken while serving for victory at 5-4 in the final set against 11th-ranked Rublev, but he found his focus and used his trademark grit to come through three games later. He sealed the triumph as an emotional Rublev hit an eighth double-fault on match point. 'I maintained the positive thoughts even if I lost focus a bit in the second set,' said Alcaraz, whose five titles so far this year include the French Open as well as Masters 1000 trophies in Monte Carlo and Rome. Rybakina revenge Rybakina fired 11 aces en route to a fifth career victory over Sabalenka in 12 meetings. She avenged a loss to the Belarusian in Berlin two months ago and booked a semi-final meeting with Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek — a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Anna Kalinskaya. Rybakina was aided by 11 aces as she reached her first Cincinnati semi-final. 'I'm happy with the serve. It was the key today,' Rybakina said. 'I served really well.' 'If she had been serving well, it would have been a totally different match,' she acknowledged. Rybakina has won her last three matches against Swiatek, all played this season. But Swiatek was feeling confident after downing Kalinskaya in what she called 'the best match I played here.' 'I'm happy that I'm progressing during the tournament,' Swiatek said. Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion, had looked well on her way after a quick first set against Paolini. But her mistakes caught up with her as she was broken eight times by the Italian, who overcame plenty of errors of her own as well as a twisted ankle suffered early in the third set. 'It was so tough at the start, I was running and trying to put the ball inside the court,' Paolini said. 'I started to feel the ball better.' 'I fought for every point and stayed in the match,' added the Italian, who will face Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the final. Kudermetova crushed Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-2.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Cincinnati Open: Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff crash out, Carlos Alcaraz survives tough challenge
Elena Rybakina is into the Cincinnati Open semifinals where she will face Iga Swiatek. (Image: X) World number one Aryna Sabalenka and second-ranked Coco Gauff were sent crashing out of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Friday as Carlos Alcaraz fought off a fierce challenge from Andrey Rublev to reach the semi-finals. Top seed and defending champion Sabalenka had no answer for Elena Rybakina, falling to the 2022 Wimbledon champion 6-1, 6-4. Reigning French Open champion Gauff had 16 double faults in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 exit at the hands of seventh-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini. Spain's second-ranked Alcaraz had his difficulties, but he broke Rublev in the final game of a tense duel to emerge a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 winner and will face third-seeded Alexander Zverev, who brought fifth-seeded Toronto champion Ben Shelton's run to an end with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Zverev earned a 4-1 lead in the second set as Shelton angrily tossed his racquet on the changeover, and the 2021 champion polished off the win on a second match point. He now has 24 hours to try to get fit. "I'm not feeling too great now, but I have a day to get fresh," Zverev said. "I hope to be at 100%. "I'm not sure what happened. I felt very well, but at the end of the first set, it got progressively worse. But I'll do all I can to give it a shot tomorrow." Alcaraz was broken while serving for victory at 5-4 in the final set against 11th-ranked Rublev, but he found his focus and used his trademark grit to come through three games later. He sealed the triumph as an emotional Rublev hit an eighth double-fault on match point. "I maintained the positive thoughts even if I lost focus a bit in the second set," said Alcaraz, whose five titles so far this year include the French Open as well as Masters 1000 trophies in Monte Carlo and Rome. Rybakina revenge Rybakina fired 11 aces en route to a fifth career victory over Sabalenka in 12 meetings. She avenged a loss to the Belarusian in Berlin two months ago and booked a semi-final meeting with Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek — a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Anna Kalinskaya. Rybakina was aided by 11 aces as she reached her first Cincinnati semi-final. "I'm happy with the serve. It was the key today," Rybakina said. "I served really well. If she had been serving well, it would have been a totally different match," she acknowledged. Rybakina has won her last three matches against Swiatek, all played this season. But Swiatek was feeling confident after downing Kalinskaya in what she called "the best match I played here." "I'm happy that I'm progressing during the tournament," Swiatek said. Gauff, the 2023 Cincinnati champion, had looked well on her way after a quick first set against Paolini. But her mistakes caught up with her as she was broken eight times by the Italian, who overcame plenty of errors of her own as well as a twisted ankle suffered early in the third set. "It was so tough at the start, I was running and trying to put the ball inside the court," Paolini said. "I started to feel the ball better." "I fought for every point and stayed in the match," added the Italian, who will face Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the final. Kudermetova crushed Varvara Gracheva 6-1, 6-2. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
