One of the most famous tennis tournaments in the entire world happens once a year in the grass courts in London. This tournament is no other than the famous Wimbledon tennis match, where only the most famous tennis legends can attend the event. While this tennis match is one of the most anticipated ones to come in the year, in 2020 the event was canceled due to COVID restrictions. “It’s just unbelievable to be back” says Andrew Castle, the official Wimbledon commentator. It seemed unreal to see the players back on the court over the summer, and fans gathered around the arena to welcome back their favorite players on one of the most important and popular tennis events in the world.
Andrew Castle, the famous commentator at Wimbledon, discusses thoroughly how his career first started covering golf when he was truly interested in what was going on during the tennis matches. When his calling came and a mutual friend referred him to Wimbledon to broadcast a game he was lucky enough to start his tennis broadcaster career by witnessing Rafael Nadal at the beginning of his career. Now Castle comments on his fascination to have experienced the journey of tennis legends such as Federer or Novak Djokovic.
A piece of information that a lot of people are unfamiliar with, is the fact that Castle is a former tennis player, and while he started his career covering golf games, horse races, and even interviewing the Prime Minister on GMTV, he has claimed that everything had led him to where he is today. While Castle started covering numerous sports, he always considered himself a professional journalist and did his research to be prepared for what his past jobs required from him.
“People might say: ‘What’s a tennis player doing working on this?’. Well, I have done the work, so now I’ll wear whichever hat somebody wants me to wear.” Castle considers that he has done an outstanding job for all the past sports he used to cover; however, he has realized that his true passion lies in tennis. It was Wimbledon that truly captivated Castle. Whether it has been the atmosphere of the game or even the legends that play on the grass courts at London, Castle considers it a joy to be able to cover Wimbledon with tennis legends.
Being able to cover the Wimbledon match is definitively stressful. While he doesn’t plan his lines, he is aware that the same audience watching the game is also listening to him, so his job is very important. Not only is Castle in charge of narrating the game, he does something greater than that, but he also creates an atmosphere and sets the tone for how the game will appear to the spectators. Castle can guide the viewers through the entire match with his commentary, he can develop an emotional turmoil between the spectators and the match so he has always been aware of the importance of his job during this huge event.
From delivering the winning line when Andy Murray, the first British man who won the singles title in the Open Era, to have led the viewers through nerve-wracking matches featuring Federer, Djokovic and even Nadal, Castle is definitively proud of having been able to comment and narrate on some of the most important matches of the history of Wimbledon.
