Andre Agassi is at Wimbledon to talk tennis, not to fawn over celebrities.
During Friday’s men’s semifinal matches, the legendary former player expressed his irritation with BBC co-announcer Andrew Castle, who frequently mentioned the VIPs present at Centre Court.
Agassi, well-regarded for his insightful commentary and knack for explaining the game to the audience, found Castle repeatedly steering the discussion towards the celebrities in the Royal Box.
The notable attendees included actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Rami Malek, as well as Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar among others.
One particularly awkward moment during the thrilling semifinal between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz began when Agassi tried to make a point about the on-court play.
“I can just make one comment here that’s short of a prediction, we saw Taylor go to another level of risk with his serve, which dropped his percentage but then paid off for him…We saw him go to another level of risk with the backhand … go ahead if you want to say something,” Agassi said before Castle butted in.
“That’s Elaine Paige, she’s a musical theatre star, but she’s also president of the Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, they support disabled tennis very much,” Castle said, to which Agassi awkwardly replied that he did not know who they were.
Castle didn’t seem to take the hint, joking: “Let’s test. This is Andre Agassi and this is ‘Guess the royal box member.’”
An exasperated Agassi responded: “Don’t torture me. Let me finish my point.”
Agassi continued to make his point about Fritz’s serve from there, until Castle jutted in yet again: “OK, that’s great. That was Nick Clegg, our former deputy prime minster.”
That comment was enough to get Agassi to truly snap, with the six-time major champion saying, “People watching are watching for tennis, not for this.”
Similar moments between the two commentators took place throughout the broadcast, with Agassi reiterating to Castle at one point: “Do not ask me about people that you show on television because this is my weakness.”
Alcaraz will face Jannik Sinner, who made quick work of Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal, in a highly anticipated final on Sunday.
Alcaraz and Sinner had an epic French Open final on Sunday with Alcaraz fending off multiple match points to rally down two sets to claim the title at Roland Garros.
