Andrew Castle covered his final Wimbledon for the BBC (Image: BBC)
Andrew Castle covered his final Wimbledon for the BBC last month, standing down after more than two decades at the Beeb. The retired player-turned-broadcaster had been the lead commentator for the men’s singles final, and called Jannik Sinner’s four-set triumph over Alexander Zverev before standing down.
On his final day of coverage, Castle appeared alongside John Lloyd, who was also leaving the BBC Wimbledon commentary team, and joked that they had been “booted” off air. “Yes. I am a bit sad about it, of course. I have fabulous memories, even working with John! John’s finishing as well. We’re being put out to grass. That’s it. Booted!” he told viewers.
It’s only been a month since Wimbledon finished and Castle left the BBC, but Castle says he’s enjoying life away from the tennis and has even already received four new job offers. For now, though, he’s focused on his family.
“Well, we’ve got a third grandchild on the way, we’re building a house and we’re getting it finished. We took the plunge and we’re building a house, so that’s got a few months to run. And, you know, there’s always bits and bobs of work outside of tennis, which I still do. I’ll just continue to do those. I can promise you this, it doesn’t, doesn’t get any less busy for some reason. I don’t know why that is,” Castle told Betway.
As for whether he’d cover tennis for another broadcaster, the 62-year-old replied: “Well, I mean I really don’t know. It’s not a priority for me. I mean, I could come back, I’ve had two really good offers, actually, outside of tennis. Well, I have had two offers within tennis, two outside of tennis on the broadcasting side but at the moment, in August, I’m just going to take it easy.
“I can’t make any decisions at the moment. I’m just trying to build this house and look after the grandchildren that we have for a little bit and be involved in family. It’s been great. As you get older, you want to do slightly less.”
Andrew Castle has received some new job offers (Image: Getty)
“A couple of these job offers are in news and current affairs, and it’s just like, ‘oh my god”, it’s a queasy ride for anybody who’s a journalist at the moment. It’s just an extraordinary world to try to make sense of. So, there’s no rush. There is no rush. It’s a privileged position to be that there’s no rush. I know that.”
It’s understood that Castle was initially asked to step down from his role as the lead commentator for the men’s singles final, but the BBC hoped he would remain a part of the Wimbledon team next year. He decided to walk away, however.
“I was lucky to be put in there in the first place and lucky to do it for as long as I did it. And so, I mean, I leave really, very grateful,” he added.
“I mean, that is the truth. Would I have liked to have carried on? Of course I would, but nobody ever knows when you’re going to get that tap on the shoulder and say, ‘Okay, you’ve had your time’, but, I mean, it’s been absolutely unreal.”
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