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Andrew Castle Nick Ansell/PA Wire
andrew castle

BBC commentator accused of sexism after comments about tennis player's girlfriend

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened at Wimbledon.

ANDREW CASTLE HAS found himself at the centre of a row over sexism at the Wimbledon tennis championships.

This comes after comments he made about the girlfriend of tournament success story Marcus Willis.

The 25-year-old lefthander is ranked 772 in the world, still lives with his parents, and teaches at Warwick Boat Club (a tennis club in the British midlands) for £30 an hour.

Winning six matches to make it into the tournament’s main draw, he upset 53rd-ranked Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis in the first round before being eliminated by tennis legend Roger Federer.

What has drawn so much attention to the story is that Willis credits his success to his girlfriend Jennifer Bate, who – with the tennis player brink of walking away from the sport – convinced him to make a commitment and turn his life around.

What did Castle say? 

During his second-round match, the camera panned to Bate sitting in the crowd, at which point Castle decided it would be a good idea to say the following:

I tell you another thing: my dentist doesn’t look like that.

Needless to say, the internet was not happy.

According to the Guardian, the BBC has received a number of complaints about the comment.

Responding to the criticism, the tennis player-turned-presenter was somewhat bullish.

He later apologised if he had caused any upset with his remarks.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened at the tournament.

Back in 2013 commentator John Inverdale was accused of sexism after making comments about the winner of the women’s tournament Marion Bartoli.

Read: This Dublin pub is offering free drinks to “any girl who can explain the offside rule”

Also: ‘Get in the kitchen!’: life as a female football referee

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