05 July 2026 , 09:03
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Commentator Andrew Castle playfully told Eugenie Bouchard she was "fired" during the BBC’s live coverage of Wimbledon on Saturday night. Bouchard was providing courtside analysis of Grigor Dimitrov’s third-round encounter with Matteo Berrettini on Centre Court.
The former tennis star joined the BBC for the first time to work on the 2026 Championships. She found herself in the hot seat for failing to speak Italian after Berrettini launched into a tirade at his box late in the second set.
During a changeover, Castle asked Bouchard: "Do you speak Italian?" And the 2014 ladies singles finalist replied: "I do not but I see a lot going back and forth between Berrettini and his box, which is right behind me.
"Unfortunately only English and French I can do for you guys." Castle fired back: "I don’t know, it’s the Italian we’re looking for Genie." And Bouchard teased: "Is that it, am I fired?"
Laughter rippled across both sides of the court as Castle declared: "That’s it, thank you for coming, you’re fired." Bouchard rounded things off with: "It was a good run, thank you for having me anyway. I’ll just see myself out."
Castle was on the verge of wrapping up the exchange with "goodbye, enjoy your dinner" when Henman stepped in to come to Bouchard’s defence, saying: "Don’t do that."
Dimitrov remains a firm crowd favourite at SW19, having captured the hearts of fans throughout last year’s tournament. The Bulgarian endured a heartbreaking pectoral injury while two sets ahead of eventual champion Jannik Sinner in the fourth round, forcing him to retire from the match in gut-wrenching fashion.
Yet he is refusing to let that dark memory cloud his focus this time around. Dimitrov said: "I think when I say I’ve suffered through my career with minor injuries, big injury, what happened last year and all that, why am I here if I’m not putting everything on the line again?
"If I don’t have that, then there’s not going to be a point for me to be competing anymore sort of on the biggest stage of our sport, here at Wimbledon. Again, anything can happen. I can get injured again. You can slip. You might have an off day.
"Those things are just as vital, they’re there. But you have to, like, push yourself mentally to stay as fresh as possible, aware as possible, and really dig down and ask yourself the questions, what you really want, and how do you want to go about doing your business."
Head of Investigations