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Thursday 27 Nov 2014

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Wimbledon 2010 – TV presenters and commentators

John Inverdale

Presenters

Sue Barker

A former world No. 3 tennis player, French Open champion and Wimbledon semi-finalist, Sue started work as a sports broadcaster with Australia's Channel 7 in 1985.

She joined BSB in 1990 and later moved to Sky Sports. She made her 91Èȱ¬ Sport TV debut co-presenting the evening highlights programme from Wimbledon 1993 with Harry Carpenter. Since then, she has gained a wealth of experience presenting world class competitions, including coverage of other major tennis tournaments, summer and winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games, the Grand National, the Derby and World and European skating championships.

In addition, Sue has also hosted Grandstand and Sunday Grandstand and has worked on the 91Èȱ¬ TV documentary Chalk Flew Up – a history of Wimbledon's Court No. 1, which made its final appearance during Wimbledon 1995.

Her credits also include hosting Sports Personality Of The Year and A Question Of Sport. Among her many accolades are the 1998 TRIC award for Sports Presenter/Reporter Of The Year and the 2001 RTS Sports Presenter award.

John Inverdale

John began his broadcasting career with 91Èȱ¬ Radio Lincolnshire in 1982. He joined 91Èȱ¬ Radio Sport in 1985, working for Radio 4's Today programme and on Radio 2 sports output before joining Radio 5 in 1988 as presenter of its flagship sports programme, Sport On 5.

During the championships, John presents 91Èȱ¬ television's daily highlights programme Today At Wimbledon. John is also 91Èȱ¬ Sport's rugby presenter and was part of the team covering the Beijing Olympics.

He has also presented 91Èȱ¬ Radio 5 Live's coverage of many major sports events including the Wimbledon championships, Olympic Games and World Cups (football and rugby).

Commentators

Tracy Austin

Tracy Austin had her first tennis lesson at the age of two and appeared on the cover of World Tennis at the age of four.

After winning 25 national titles as a junior, Austin launched her professional career by winning the first tournament she entered (Filderstadt, Germany, 1978) as a pro.

Triumphs over Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova produced two US Open crowns for Austin. In 1978, she broke Navratilova's 37-match winning streak and, in the 1979 Italian Open, she broke Evert's 125-match clay court winning streak. Her incredibly consistent record earned her celebrity status and worldwide recognition. She became the youngest person to become No. 1 in the world in 1980 at age 17.

Tracy represented the USA on the winning Federation Cup and Wightman Cup team. When forced to the sidelines in the mid-Eighties, she translated her on-court experience into a successful broadcasting career.

Boris Becker

Wimbledon crowd favourite Boris Becker joined the 91Èȱ¬ Sport commentary team for the 2002 Championships. Born in 1967, in Leimen, Germany, Boris became the youngest man to win Wimbledon at 17 years 7 months when he defeated Kevin Curren in 1985. Over his career he won 49 ATP singles titles, including six Grand Slam titles, and became World No. 1 for the first time after victory at the Australian Open in 1991.

Andrew Castle

Andrew Castle is a former British No. 1 tennis player who turned professional in 1986 after completing a marketing degree in the USA. He is also a double Olympian, having been a member of Great Britain's Olympic Teams in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992.

Since 2003, Andrew has worked alongside John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Boris Becker at the Wimbledon Championships. He is the 91Èȱ¬'s lead commentator throughout Wimbledon fortnight, culminating in the men's singles final, which he has commentated on for the last seven years.

He was a contestant on the 2008 edition of Strictly Come Dancing and has also tested himself on Mastermind, Masterchef and A Question Of Sport.

Andrew Cotter

Andrew Cotter is in his third year as a member of 91Èȱ¬ Television's commentary team at Wimbledon. Andrew, originally from Troon in Ayrshire, commentates for 91Èȱ¬ Television on a number of sports, specialising in golf and rugby. He has a degree in French and Philosophy from Glasgow University and played golf for Scottish Schools and Scottish Universities.

His grandfather played rugby for Scotland. After starting his broadcasting career at Scot FM radio station in Edinburgh, Andrew joined the 91Èȱ¬ in 2000, working initially for Radio 5 Live as well as presenting the sport on the 91Èȱ¬ News Channel.

His work as a golf commentator for both radio and television has taken him to numerous tournaments around the world, including all four majors and The Ryder Cup, while in rugby he can be heard on The Six Nations and The World Cup. This year he also commentated on The Boat Race as it returned to the 91Èȱ¬ and he was part of the 91Èȱ¬ team at the Beijing Olympic games.

Mark Cox

Mark's finest hour as a player was as a member of the Great Britain team which reached the final of the 1978 Davis Cup against the USA. In the semi-final against Australia, he partnered David Lloyd to victory in the deciding doubles rubber. Mark won 10 singles tournaments between 1970 and 1977, was twice a quarter-finalist in the Australian Open, reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 1966, and was runner-up at Queen's in 1977.

Lindsay Davenport

A former world No. 1, Lindsay won three Grand Slam singles tournaments, 55 career singles titles, 37 career doubles titles and a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in a stellar playing career that ran from 1991-2008. She is also one of only four women since 1975 who have finished the season as world No. 1 at least four times.

Lindsay's career peaked during the period 1998-2000, when she won the US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open and WTA championship as well as reaching the semi-finals of the French Open. Her ground strokes, in particular her two-handed backhand, and her excellent placement were the core of her game, which was described by many as "rock solid".

Having taken a break from tennis in the latter part of 2006, and much of 2007, to have her first child (Jagger Jonathan), Lindsay wasted no time in returning to winning ways with a tour win in Bali, followed in 2008 by further tour wins including her 55th and final win at a tournament in Tennessee.

Lindsay eventually announced her retirement from the game at the beginning of 2009 when she learnt she was pregnant with her second child Lauren Andrus. Lindsay will be working a co-commentator and analyst at her first Wimbledon with the 91Èȱ¬.

Barry Davies

This is Barry's 25th Wimbledon Championship. He was part of the Match Of The Day team for 35 years, during which he set a record of commentating at 10 World Cup finals – the first in 1966 for ITV. Since stepping down from that nearly six years ago he has continued to cover a number of events for the 91Èȱ¬ as a freelance, taking his tally to 18 Olympic Games (11 summer; seven winter) and eight Commonwealth.

He has been in the commentary seat for the Olympic and other ceremonies, the Lord Mayor's Show, the Royal Tournament and a number of different sports, including badminton, figure skating, hockey and The Boat Race. His Wimbledon CV shows two ladies' and many doubles finals – and Andy Murray's debut.

Peter Fleming

Peter teamed up with John McEnroe to form the most formidable doubles partnership in the men's game during the Eighties. The pair won the Wimbledon men's doubles title in 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1984 and took the US Open doubles crown in 1979, 1981 and 1983. In total, Fleming and McEnroe took 57 doubles titles.

Tim Henman

Tim Henman brings his experience of reaching four semi-finals and three quarter-finals at Wimbledon to the 91Èȱ¬'s commentary team this year, following his retirement from professional tennis. Tim was the No. 1 ranked tennis player in Great Britain, was ranked No. 4 in the world in 2002 and won 11 career titles.

A member of the British Davis Cup team since 1994, Tim was awarded an OBE in 2004. He founded his own charity, Kids At Heart, in 2000. His interests include all sports, golf in particular, and he now plays off a handicap of four.

John Lloyd

In reaching the final of the 1977 Australian Open, John Lloyd became the first Englishman to reach a singles final of a Grand Slam in the Open era. In the following year he achieved his highest ranking when he finished at No. 21.

That year, John led an inspired British team to its most recent Davis Cup final where they were defeated by the US. During his career he collected three Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles, all with partner Wendy Turnbull including back-to-back victories at Wimbledon in 1983 and 1984. He now continues to provide the mix of class and competitive fire that has made him one of the most popular players on the senior circuit.

John McEnroe

A winner of 77 singles titles and 78 doubles, John first made Grand Slam headlines in 1977 while still in his teens by capturing the French Open mixed doubles title and reaching the singles semi-finals at Wimbledon. He asserted his mastery on the professional circuit soon after, with three successive US Open championships, in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
He ended Björn Borg's five-year reign at Wimbledon with a commanding victory in 1981 that promoted him to the men's top-ranked player (and the youngest to achieve it) – a position he held for four years. He took another Wimbledon title in 1983, but John McEnroe's most memorable year was 1984 when he won both Wimbledon and US Open titles.

In addition to his singles achievements, John dominated the field as a doubles player. With long-time partner Peter Fleming, John earned four Wimbledon titles, three US Open titles as well as seven Masters titles, which they won consecutively from 1978-1984.

John represented the United States 12 times in Davis Cup competition, achieving five championship team wins and establishing the record for the most US Davis Cup wins (39 singles and 15 doubles). More recently, John was a doubles winner of the SAP Open in the San Jose ATP Tournament in February 2006 at 47 years of age. John also commentates on television for CBS, NBC and ESPN.

David Mercer

Swansea-born David entered sports broadcasting as a freelance via 91Èȱ¬ Wales in 1979 and joined 91Èȱ¬ Radio Sport in London on a full-time basis in 1984. He joined the 91Èȱ¬ Television commentary team in 1992. Tennis has been his main sport since then, but he has also commentated and reported on football, rugby union, rowing, skiing, skating, badminton, snooker, squash, ice hockey and American football.

David, a former solicitor, was Welsh Junior Doubles champion in 1968, captained the tennis team at Nottingham University in 1969 and umpired the Wimbledon men's singles final in 1984.

Greg Rusedski

Greg Rusedski was born in Canada and began representing Great Britain in May 1995. He was recognised as the No. 4 seed in the world and, at one point, had the fastest serve in the world, recorded at 149 mph. He won the prestigious 91Èȱ¬ Sports Personality Of The Year award in 1997 after reaching the final of the US Open, becoming the first Brit to do so in 60 years.

The following year he won the biggest tournament of his career at the ATP Masters Series in Paris, defeating the world No. 1 Pete Sampras, in what he calls the greatest match he ever played. Since retiring from tennis professionally in 2007, Greg has become a television and radio sports commentator and presenter.

Simon Reed

Simon's career began with 91Èȱ¬ Radio in the late Sixties when he worked for 91Èȱ¬ Radio Sport, 91Èȱ¬ World Service and 91Èȱ¬ Radio London. From 1973, he was a presenter and reporter for Thames TV. Simon's career as a tennis commentator began with Channel 4 in 1984, and he also freelanced for Sky and Eurosport. In 1995, he became Head of Commentators for Eurosport, specialising in tennis.

In 2002, Simon commentated for 91Èȱ¬ TV at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He has commentated on the last eight Wimbledon championships for 91Èȱ¬ TV.

Sam Smith

Sam was National Champion in 1997 and British No. 1 from 1996-99. She reached her highest world ranking, 55, in February 1999 and represented Great Britain in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, as well as the Federation Cup and European Team Championships. Sam now works as a freelance tennis commentator and columnist.

Virginia Wade

Virginia Wade's 1977 victory over Betty Stove to win the Wimbledon ladies' singles final, during The Queen's Silver Jubilee, remains one of the tournament's most memorable triumphs. Virginia is currently the last Briton to have won Wimbledon.

Born in Bournemouth in July 1945, her career also included winning the US Open in 1968, the Australian and Italian Opens in 1972, and four Grand Slam doubles titles. Awarded the OBE in 1986, Virginia has worked as a tennis commentator for the 91Èȱ¬ since 1981.

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