Andrew Castle has insisted criticism from tennis fans at Wimbledon 2025 was blown out of proportion, having been accused of interrupting Andre Agassi.
During the tournament, while the pair were commentating, Castle talked about the Royal Box - instead of the tennis.
This seemed to annoy Agassi, who was making his BBC debut. The American said: “People watching are watching for tennis, not for this.”
Furthermore, after Castle asked Agassi about the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Craig and Rami Malek being in attendance, the eight-time Grand Slam winner responded: “Don’t ask me stuff like that, I don’t know."
Andrew Castle has insisted criticism from tennis fans at Wimbledon 2025 was blown out of proportion, having been accused of interrupting Andre Agassi
|GETTY/PA
Now, speaking to Betway, Castle has responded to the controversy.
And the 61-year-old has downplayed the incident while passionately defending his decision to speak about non-sporting matters.
"That’s the difference between the transcript and the reality; we had a great time," he said.
"I mean we had a great time. We had a laugh, and they took it out of context.
"I mean what appears to be something on paper is totally different in real life.
"Afterwards, Andre sent me a text, saying what an unbelievable time he'd had, and how, how he enjoyed it, and we were going to have him for the final but then he went into the Royal Box instead, but he had a great time.
"We had a series of just amazing texts and messages that we swapped afterwards, and it was fantastic.
"But then you read that he was saying, oh, ‘just concentrate on the tennis'.
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Andre Agassi watched the 2025 Wimbledon final from the Royal Box
|PA
"I mean, it was nothing like that in any way, shape, or form. "He was saying that tongue in cheek whilst smiling at me, and in the final, I didn't mention any celebrities at all. None.
"I mentioned the second row of the Royal Box, which had the former champions in that row and that's all I mentioned in the final, and there were people afterwards who said, ‘all I talk about is the celebrities’.. and it's not the case.
"It's like people hear a commentator's voice I think sometimes in their own head.
"If you've got a picture of Matthew McConaughey on your screen, and I say nothing, I think people are hearing things, because I didn't mention any of that stuff. That's it.
"So, the moral of the story is that you can't keep everybody happy all the time.
"I mean, the audience figures for the final were fantastic and there were 8.8 million viewers on terrestrial television. I mean, how many events get that over the course of the year?
"That's for a tennis match that didn't involve a Brit in an age when there's a channel for everybody and everything.
"I thought it was it was great to move the final to 4pm. I thought that worked really well as it picks up a much, much bigger audience and also brings in the West Coast to the United States at a more comfortable time."
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Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek won the men and women's titles at Wimbledon this year
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Jannik Sinner won the men's competition, with the Italian overcoming Carlos Alcaraz in four sets just weeks after he'd lost to the same opponent in the French Open.
As for the women's tournament, Iga Swiatek was ruthless as she dispatched Anna Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 in one of the most one-sided finals in Wimbledon history.