Andrew Castle has opened up about his supposedly strained relationship with Nick Kyrgios, who once branded the veteran Wimbledon commentator a “clown.” Kyrgios reportedly won’t return to the BBC’s broadcast team for this year’s tournament at SW19, which kicks off later this month, despite being a fan favourite in the commentary box last year.
The Australian star, long known as the ‘bad boy’ of tennis, traded his racket for a microphone in 2024 after an injury ruled him out of the competition. This year, fitness issues have once again kept him out of the tournament, but the BBC has opted not to bring him back to the broadcast team, according to The Telegraph. As a result, viewers won’t witness a repeat of last year’s pre-Wimbledon tensions between him and Castle. However, the former British No. 1 insisted their so-called ‘feud’ was blown out of proportion.
“I didn’t have any tense encounters and nor did he,” Castle, 61, exclusively told Express Sport, via Globusbet. “Nick said something on Twitter about me and he got told that it’s not the way to be.”
Never one to hold back, Kyrgios stirred controversy during the 2023 Wimbledon final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. Posting on X (formerly Twitter), he criticised Castle for repeatedly talking over the action and claimed the commentator didn’t know when to stay quiet.
“Whoever is the clown next to [Todd] Woodbridge in that commentator box needs to just not speak, spoiling the match big time,” Kyrgios posted.
Castle, who later dubbed Kyrgios the “golden boy” of clickbait, admitted he was initially embarrassed by the remark but dismissed it as a throwaway comment – one he chose not to take personally. “I said to him that he embarrassed me there and he said, ‘Oh mate.’ That was it,” Castle explained.
“I stand by what I said about where we were in the match he commented on. Nick said something online and there’s so much attention on Wimbledon and on his Twitter feed that people make something up that isn’t there.”
The back-and-forth didn’t stop there. During the following year’s tournament – when Kyrgios joined Castle on the BBC commentary team – the Canberra-born star blasted his colleague, branding him “disrespectful” for downplaying a match between Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz, which was largely defined by powerful serving rather than engaging rallies.
During the match, Castle remarked on air: “You can’t say it’s been the most captivating tennis, to be frank.” That prompted a fiery response from Kyrgios on social media.
“‘Not captivating’ – was a comment from a commentator who is doing the Zverev and Fritz match,” he wrote. “This alone tells me that they have probably never played tennis at a high level. Two of the most elite servers we have. Quite disrespectful. C’mon be better.”
Once again, Castle chose not to take the criticism to heart. He also expressed his enjoyment of working with Kyrgios, praising the 30-year-old’s talent and seamlessness behind the microphone.
“I like working with Nick, he did a great job at last year’s final,” Castle added. “It was my 21st final and he slotted right in with Tim [Henman] and I – his delivery is really good for tennis.
“He picks things up, knows when to speak and obviously knows what he is talking about so that was great. We talked a little bit about being careful [with what he posts online] and he said, ‘Sure, it’s over.’ So that’s it.”
Kyrgios has never won a Grand Slam but came closest at the All England Club in 2022, reaching the Wimbledon final before falling to Djokovic in four sets. The match is perhaps best remembered for Kyrgios’ infamous “700 drinks” outburst, directed at a spectator he claimed was distracting him during play.
Since then he’s battled persistent injuries, competing in just two major tournaments over the past three years. He made his long-awaited return to Grand Slam action at the Australian Open in January, but was defeated in straight sets by rising British star Jacob Fearnley in the first round.