Nick Kyrgios slams TV commentator he is working with at Wimbledon

Australian tennis firebrand Nick Kyrgios has publicly slammed his colleague Andrew Castle for a ‘disrespectful’ remark, reopening his beef with the BBC commentator.

Kyrgios, 29, first hit out at Castle during Wimbledon last year, calling him a ‘clown’ for comments he made during the final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz won 1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in just under five hours, but Kyrgios clearly found the experience of watching the match on BBC annoying and urged Castle, 60, to keep his involvement to a minimum.

‘Whoever is the clown next to [Todd] Woodbridge in that commentator box needs to just not speak, spoiling the match big time,’ he tweeted.

Castle, a former pro player who is better known for his commentary nowadays, got under the Australian’s skin once again during Monday’s match between Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev.

During the match, Castle remarked: ‘You can’t say it’s been the most captivating tennis, to be frank.’

Kyrgios, who also does commentary for BBC, was not happy with the comment and took to social media to blast Castle.

‘Not captivating’ – was a comment from a commentator who is doing the Zverev & Fritz match,’ Kyrgios posted.

‘This alone tells me that they have probably never played tennis at a high level. 2 of the most elite servers we have. Quite disrespectful. C’mon be better.’

Castle, a former British No.1, has been the BBC’s lead commentator on all men’s singles finals for two decades.

As a player, he reached the second round at Wimbledon in 1986 and 1987, but never made it past the first round of the Australian Open in three attempts in 1987, 1988 and 1991.

His best result in a singles tournament at one of the four majors came as he reached the third round of the US Open in 1987.

The 60-year-old was more successful as doubles player, reaching the final of the mixed-doubles tournament at the Aussie Open in 1987 and the semi-final of the doubles the following year.

Kyrgios is part of the BBC commentary team at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club again this year after last playing a competitive tennis match in June 2023 due to a shocking run with injuries.

The 2022 Wimbledon finalist has battled serious wrist, knee and foot ailments over the last two years, not to mention various legal dramas along the way.

That included being charged with common assault for shoving his former girlfriend Chiara Passari, which he pled guilty to in 2021.

Kyrgios was not impressed when last week Castle brought up a completely different drama altogether.

The veteran commentator instead decided to grill Kyrgios about infamously having a spectator removed from the crowd at Wimbledon during his men’s singles final loss to Novak Djokovic, saying at the time ‘it looks like she’s had about 700 drinks’.

‘She’s distracting me when I’m serving in a Wimbledon final. There’s no other bigger occasion, you didn’t believe me and then she did it again. It nearly cost me the game,’ Kyrgios ranted.

‘Why is she still here? She’s drunk out of her mind and speaking to me in the middle of a game. What’s acceptable? Kick her out. I know exactly which one it is. The one in the dress, who looks like she’s had about 700 drinks, bro.’

Kyrgios and Castle were commentating the all-English showdown between Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie when the incident came up.

Draper complained to the chair umpire about a member of the crowd, saying ‘that guy needs to stop talking on my serve’ which prompted a warning to the crowd from the official.

Castle was quick to seize on the parallels, quipping: ‘Draper is a bit irritated by someone. Maybe they’ve had 500 beers mate?’

Kyrgios quickly replied: ‘Awww, nah! We can’t mention that, I’ll get in trouble!’

‘Since when do you try to avoid that?’ Castle asked.

‘Yeah, you’re not wrong,’ Kyrgios replied in a fit of laughter.

Castle: ‘Turning over a new leaf? Being a good boy?’

Kyrgios: ‘I’m trying to find the balance.’