Tennis star Chris Eubanks has responded to suggestions that he will be a part of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage this summer. The injured Nick Kyrgios will not work for the Beeb at this year’s Championships despite doing so last year. And he claimed that American Eubanks was replacing him on the punditry team.
Speaking to The Guardian, the Australian star said: “It’s unfortunate but it’s probably their loss more than mine. I understand they’ve got Chris Eubanks but he hasn’t beaten the greatest of all time multiple times.
“When someone’s beaten [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal, [Andy] Murray and [Novak] Djokovic and has incredible insights, it’s very strange you wouldn’t want that person adding knowledge to tennis fans. I’m sure our paths will cross again. I only ever want to add humour, some knowledge and some great atmosphere.”
Despite Kyrgios’ speculation, Eubanks has now taken to X, previously known as Twitter, to play down the claims and insist that he has not even held talks with the BBC about potentially featuring.
After initially posting a confused GIF of artist 50 Cent, the world No. 108 wrote: “All jokes aside… I will not be working with BBC at Wimbledon this year. As far as I know, my team hasn’t even spoken to anyone from BBC so I’m not sure where that came from. That said, I’m incredibly excited to be back competing at SW19.”
The statement leaves Kyrgios with egg on his face, with Eubanks baffled by the unfounded rumours, and it is still unclear who will be replacing him at Wimbledon this year.
The BBC are yet to announce their punditry line-up for the Grand Slam, which gets underway next week, though it is clear that Eubanks will only be seen on the court rather than on the panel. Andy Murray has also confirmed that he will not feature as a pundit for the BBC, despite his previous work in the role.
He revealed to GQ that he felt that commenting on the performances of fellow Brits carries too much risk, saying: “If I go and work at, let’s say Wimbledon, you start getting asked questions about British players like Jack Draper. I know when the British ex-tennis players would talk about my tennis and what I should be doing.
“Because you respect them, you listen to what they’re saying – but it’s not always the same as what your coach is telling you.”
