Andrew Castle is not interested at all in feuding with Nick Kyrgios or anything like that despite being called "a clown" by the Australian as he hopes they can form a great team for this year's Wimbledon coverage.
After Kyrgios accepted that he would not be ready to make his competitive return to Wimbledon this year, he agreed in May to join BBC's coverage team for the 2024 Wimbledon edition.
BBC's decision to hire Kyrgios drew mixed reactions and some instantly started pointing out how the 2022 Wimbledon finalist brutally called out long-time BBC tennis commentator Castle just 12 months earlier. Kyrgios, who didn't play at Wimbledon last year, thought the 2023 Wimbledon final on the BBC would have been better with Castle muted.
"Whoever is the clown next to [Todd] Woodbridge in that commentator box needs to just not speak, spoiling the match big time," Kyrgios wrote on X during the 2023 Wimbledon final.
After Kyrgios took a shot at Castle, one person told the Australian that Castle was a former British player who made the third round at the Queen's Club in 1986. Kyrgios sarcastically responded to that by writing: "Hahaha amazing."
Castle responds to Kyrgios' shade
Castle, 60, was a pro tennis player for six years but he never won a title and his career-high ranking saw him only sit at No. 80 in the world. After finishing his career early, Castle got into tennis broadcast and for two decades he has been the leading face on BBC's Wimbledon commentary.
Now, the 60-year-old Briton is set to work with 29-year-old Kyrgios, who made it clear just 12 months ago that he wasn't a fan of his commentary. But Castle believes all of that stuff is part of the Kyrgios show and insists he is looking forward to being colleagues with the 2022 Wimbledon finalist.
"It was along the lines of calling the commentator an idiot. The commentator was either me or Todd Woodbridge. It couldve been Tim Henman, there was three of us in there," Castle told Metro.
"Ive got no issue at all with any of that. Everyone has the right to an opinion. Especially someone whos been in a Wimbledon final. But, you know, the fact is that sitting on your sofa or in your car, its pretty easy from there.
"So whatever the point of social media is that everyone has a say, including Nick. Hey, Im not surprised it got picked up on. Everything Nick says gets picked up. In this world of clickbait-driven stuff, hes a real golden boy. I look forward to seeing him and working with him."
Castle on how he felt when he heard about the BBC hiring Kyrgios
When Castle heard about that move, he claims he wasn't surprised because he was aware of how Kyrgios did his job while being an analyst and commentator during the ATP Finals and Australian Open.
"Well, Ill tell you what my reaction wasnt surprise. It was something I expected to happen after I heard him commentating last time out [at the Australian Open]," Castle said.
"What has surprised me is that people seem surprised that he is articulate, intelligent, current and sharp-witted. Thats not a surprise to me. A lot of people who demonstrate the kind of talent and behavior on the court that he does, a lot of them have very active minds.
"I know theres controversy around it. But the point is this: Hes very good at commentary. He gives interesting observations which are unique in many ways. Im looking forward to it."
Just before the 2023 ATP Finals started, Tennis Channel figured out something that they thought could be interesting to their viewers - adding Kyrgios to their team. In his booth debut, Kyrgios impressed and that's when it became clear that he had talent for tennis broadcast.
Then, Kyrgios got a chance to work for Tennis Channel and ESPN during this year's Australian Open. Again, he received mostly positive reviews and even Novak Djokovic praised his work in one of his interviews.
Now Kyrgios is set for a new interesting gig as it is not many times that a player reaches a Slam final and then returns to the same tournament as a commentator two years later.
