BBC Radio at Wimbledon
The Wimbledon Programme, July 2008The rain stops, the umbrellas come down and the players begin knocking up. Throughout the two-hour delay, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Wimbledon coverage has been continuous.
The 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich and the former World No.1 Tracy Austin have fiercely debated the subject of equal prize money for men and women, Roger Federer has joined the show to talk about his earlier win, and the commentary box has been visited by a selection of celebrities from Colin Montgomerie to Ian Hislop.
With the players back on court, Five Live’s commentators and pundits are back in position, the production team hover over banks of buttons ensuring the right people can be heard at the right time, and around the country (and the globe on the BBC Sport website) millions of people listen in their cars, kitchens, armchairs and offices.
On Centre Court, Five Live’s Tennis Correspondent Jonathan Overend, Michael Stich and the former British No.1 Annabel Croft are watching Serena Williams wallop groundstrokes. Only a sound-proof glass screen and a few yards separate them. Annabel remarks upon Serena’s outfit and then hushes to almost a whisper as the two-time champion chooses that moment to stare in her direction. Stich and Overend laugh. Next door, in the adjacent commentary box, presenters Claire Balding and Simon Mayo join the conversation. Apparently, Andy Roddick made eyes at Annabel yesterday, but for different reasons, they suggest.
Over on Court One, Alastair Eykyn juggles the job of play-by-play commentary with the role of interviewer. In-between describing the action, he chats to Judy Murray - an accomplished broadcaster and Andy Murray’s mother - about the frustration felt by her son at having to pull out on the eve of The Championships. She moves seamlessly between her match analysis and describing Andy’s rehabilitation process.
Word comes through that a young British player is serving for the match against a seed on the Champions Graveyard - Court Two. Iain Carter - who spent six years as Five Live’s Tennis Correspondent before covering golf - is there. For the next twenty minutes he expertly describes the forehand that sets up match point, the missed backhand that squanders it, and the agony felt by the home crowd as another plucky Brit ultimately falls to defeat.
Storm clouds gather overhead and the rain comes down again. Play stops. Five Live’s coverage doesn’t.
John McEnroe and I are sitting on the roof of Wimbledon’s Broadcast Centre, with only a sheet of tarpaulin for cover. McEnroe is about to present Five Live’s ‘Six-Love-Six’ phone-in show, and I am meant to hand him the names of callers before he speaks to them. Lightening splits the sky, thunder cracks and the rain pours down. The last remaining people on the roof make a run for it. McEnroe just laughs and puts on his headset. ‘They’re frightened by a bit of rain up here,’ he tells the listeners. ‘But don’t worry, the show will go on.’