Andre Agassi has confirmed he will return to Wimbledon this year, potentially reuniting with BBC commentator Andrew Castle despite their apparent on-air disagreement during the 2025 tournament. The eight-time Grand Slam champion revealed his plans in an interview with The Sun, stating he will be at the All England Club for several days and may join the BBC commentary team for the semi-finals and final.
Last Year's On-Air Tension
During the 2025 Wimbledon semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz, Agassi, who was providing commentary for the BBC, became visibly frustrated when Castle repeatedly interrupted him to point out celebrities in the Royal Box. Agassi responded: "Don't torture me. Let me finish my point. People are watching for tennis, not for this. Do not ask me about people that you show on television because this is my weakness."
The exchange was widely reported as a tense moment, but both parties have since downplayed the incident. Castle, who is covering his final Wimbledon for the BBC, told reporters last year: "That's the difference between the transcript and the reality; we had a great time. We had a laugh, and they took it out of context."
Agassi's Return and Future Plans
Agassi, married to fellow tennis legend Steffi Graf, said: "I'll be there for a few days. I might do something with BBC at the end, maybe with Tim [Henman] and Andrew for the semis. I haven't decided if I'm going to watch the final or maybe commentate on it. I don't know, we'll play it by ear."
The 55-year-old American, whose two children have left home, added: "We raised our children until we were in that empty-nester phase. So there's more bandwidth now, and tennis has given me the opportunity to spend those years with my children. So any way that I can contribute back is something that I felt committed to, and now I just have more ability to do it."
Castle's Clarification
Castle maintained that the incident was blown out of proportion. He said: "Afterwards, Andre sent me a text, saying what an unbelievable time he'd had and how he enjoyed it. We were going to have him for the final but then he went into the Royal Box instead, but he had a great time. We had a series of just amazing texts and messages that we swapped afterwards, and it was fantastic."
Castle also noted that in the final, he deliberately avoided mentioning celebrities: "I didn't mention any celebrities at all. None. I mentioned the second row of the Royal Box, which had the former champions in that row and that's all I mentioned in the final."
