Australian tennis champions Ash Barty and Nick Kyrgios will feature at Wimbledon this year but it will be in the commentary box.
During the Summer of Sport event in London, BBC’s content boss Charlotte Moore confirmed that Barty and Kyrgios were part of the line-up, along with another former Aussie star and Wimbledon champ in Pat Cash.
“A host of Wimbledon champions will be joining the studio,” Moore said.
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“This will include John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Pat Cash alongside Tim Henman, Tracey Austin, Annabel Croft and Johanna Konta.
“Joining the line-up this year will be 2021 champion Ashleigh Barty and, if he’s not playing, 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, so anything could happen there,” Moore said.
While the news of Barty returning to Wimbledon (she won the tournament in 2021 but shocked the tennis world in 2022 when she announced her retirement) was greeted with much fanfare, it was a different story for the controversial Kyrgios.
Kyrgios fans are obviously keen to see him back on the court (and that still remains a possibility for Wimbledon, albeit slight), but his appointment to the BBC’s commentary team has created fierce backlash.
Campaigners against gender abuse, in particular, were astounded.
”The BBC should hang its head in shame at this appointment,” said Women and Equalities Committee chair Caroline Nokes.
“It’s a disgrace and shows the utter contempt our national broadcaster has towards women.
“Not content with consistently underpaying their own female staff and forcing out women once they hit a certain age, they now bring a man who admitted assaulting a woman on board for Wimbledon.”
Nokes is referring to an incident between Kyrgios and his former partner Chiara Passari, where Kyrgios pleaded guilty to pushing Passari to the ground — after she had stopped his car from driving away — during an argument in Canberra in 2021.
Passari did not make a formal complaint at the time but pressed charges after they split up.
The magistrate said the incident was “a single act of stupidity or frustration” and Kyrgios avoided any criminal convictions.
But concerned activists believe people are too forgiving when it comes to matters of abuse.
Reclaim These Streets campaigner Jamie Klingler said: “It’s amazing how quickly we are willing to dismiss violence against women as long as the man perpetrating that violence is good at hitting a ball.”
Kyrgios was not on the initial entry list for this year’s Wimbledon tournament but he could receive a wildcard.
However, he has barely been seen on the tour in two years — outside of a commentary role at the Australian Open — due to persistent injuries.
Kyrgios recently said that he still had “fire in the belly” and wanted to return to the action.