Former British No.1 Andrew Castle on what makes Wimbledon so special: “I have goosebumps when I arrive and nobody’s around”

Andrew Castle is now BBC’s lead commentator on Wimbledon having previously been British No.1 and has become synonymous with the coverage which returned this year after the tournament was postponed in 2020.

“It’s just unbelievable to be back”, says Castle in an interview with Betway.

“I was sitting next to John McEnroe on the first day and he was just delighted, too. Even off-mic, he was saying how wonderful it is.”

But it was not always so simple for Castle before he got his role with the BBC with sports such as golf, motor racing and basketball on Sky being presented by him before he got the main gig on the broadcaster.

“I remember being up in Slaley Hall in Northumberland during the first week of Wimbledon," he added. “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?”

On Wimbledon itself, the 57-year-old admitted it never gets old to cover the tournament during those two weeks between June and July.

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what makes Wimbledon so special,” he added. “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.”

Back in 2013, Andy Murray beat Novak Djokovic to become the first British man to win the singles title in the open era which was a huge moment in sporting history not only in tennis and it was one that Castle got to commentate on.

“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.

“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.”

Now it’s a different complexion for Murray who came back from hip surgery to grace the Centre Court once again this year only losing to Denis Shapovalov and for Castle, he is ‘thrilled’ that he is still playing and he can still compete.

“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.”

Murray’s aforementioned final sits alongside some of the great moments in Wimbledon history but that can also be said for the 2008 final where Rafael Nadal met Roger Federer for a third consecutive time and finally beat him.

“That match changed the game,” he continued. “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.”