The BBC has announced its comprehensive multi-platform coverage plans for the 2014 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Club from June 23-July 6.
Sue Barker will again be in the driving seat for BBC TV across all 13 days as she leads over 150 hours of coverage in what will be her 21st consecutive Wimbledon for the corporation.
As usual, live coverage will be shown across BBC One, BBC Two and Red Button/Online, starting daily at 11:30am on BBC Two for the first nine days of the tournament, climaxing with the singles finals over the weekend of July 5-6, both exclusively live on BBC One.
New to the commentary team this year will be the reigning ladies champion Marion Bartoli, who brings her unique insight to the BBC team for the first time, having fulfilled a similar role for ITV during its recent French Open coverage, as will British women’s number one Laura Robson, who sits out this year’s tournament due to injury.
Forty years since claiming his first Wimbledon title, the legendary Jimmy Connors returns to the BBC television commentary line-up for the first time since 2007, joining the corporation’s established field of Wimbledon regulars, including Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Pat Cash, Lindsay Davenport, Peter Fleming, Tim Henman, Anne Keothavong, John Lloyd, John McEnroe, Sam Smith and Virginia Wade.
Boris Becker, who has been a regular on the BBC team since 2002, will not be returning to the line-up this year as he will be focusing on his role as head coach for Novak Djokovic.
Leading commentary duties will be Andrew Castle, Mark Petchey, Andrew Cotter, Chris Bradnam, Matt Chilton, Barry Davies, David Mercer, Nick Mullins, Simon Reed, Jason Goodall, Guy McCrea, Ronald McIntosh, and James Burridge.
Roving reports and interviews throughout the Championships will be provided by a team including Garry Richardson, Phil Jones, Rishi Persad and Lee McKenzie, while John Inverdale returns to present the ever-popular Today at Wimbledon programme which rounds off the BBC’s daily coverage each evening on BBC Two at 8.00pm.
In addition to the traditional TV coverage, BBC Sport will again be offering its biggest ever digital offering for this year’s Wimbledon, with up to 12 live streams – up from 10 last year – available across any device, giving audiences even more choice during the busy early rounds.
Viewers will have the choice of up to five extra courts via the BBC Red Button on TVs, while those with connected TVs can access the BBC Sport App via the Red Button or through the on-device app store.
A dedicated Tennis section will include access to the full range of 12 live HD streams alongside the latest highlights and headlines from SW19.
Last year’s final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic was watched by a 5-minute peak audience of 17.8 million – a figure which has yet to be matched by any BBC TV programme since that historic afternoon on Centre Court.
A special documentary looking back at Andy Murray’s year since his Wimbledon victory and featuring exclusive footage and interviews will be broadcast at 10.35pm on Monday, June 23.
BBC TV will also offer three special Wimbledon Classics programmes in the build up to this year’s tournament on BBC Two, including a chance to see the highlights of the memorable clash between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the 2008 final, as well as last year’s men’s singles final won by Andy Murray.
On BBC Radio 5 live, Clare Balding makes a return to Wimbledon Championships, after her absence from last year’s tournament, and she will be presenting live from the All England Club daily from 12.00pm.
Tennis correspondent Russell Fuller leads the radio commentary team which includes Mary Pierce, Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek, Jana Novotna and Nick Bollettieri and, new for 2014, Serena Williams’ current coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Eleanor Oldroyd will be live from Centre Court each morning for 5 live Breakfast, bringing all the build-up to the day’s play, plus the latest news and special guests.
The BBC Sport website will also offer a range of features, including a column from Andy Murray in the build-up to the tournament, alongside all the latest news, analysis, draws, order of play, live scores and results, as well as match highlights, full match replays and video clips.
BBC Sport’s dedicated Wimbledon live coverage page, available at bbc.co.uk/tennis, will combine the BBC’s full selection of live video streams, radio, rolling highlights, text commentary and live votes.
Tennis fans can join the conversation with all the best comments and opinions from across social media, email and SMS, alongside those from BBC Sport’s expert reporters and pundits.
Before Wimbledon 2014, the BBC will also screen live coverage of the two premier UK-based warm-up events at Queen’s from June 19-15 and Eastbourne from June 17-21.
The Championships also form part of a bumper summer of sport across the BBC which also includes the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. with Wimbledon clashing with some of the latter group stage and knockout phase matches. There is also the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and The Open Championship at Hoylake to look forward to in July.
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| JUNE 23 – JULY 6 |
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WIMBLEDON 2014 All England Club, London |
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| SUPPORT PROGRAMMES |
Sue Barker introduces highlights from one of the greatest Wimbledon matches of all time.
The 2008 men’s final saw Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continue their amazing rivalry as they battled it out for the trophy for the third year in a row.
What followed was one of the most incredible matches ever seen at the All England Club, full of twists and turns, with the final shot struck in near darkness.
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Sue Barker looks back at two of Wimbledon’s most memorable ladies’ singles matches.
The 1978 final was the first of five at the All England Club between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and was a see-saw battle that ranked among the best of their many duels in a 15-year rivalry.
The 1993 final was also a topsy-turvy, emotional contest that went to three sets, with top seed Steffi Graf aiming for a third consecutive title against Jana Novotna, one of the most gifted grass court players in the women’s game.
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Sue Barker looks back at last year’s unforgettable Wimbledon final in which Andy Murray became the first British men’s singles champion in 77 years.
Murray returned to the scene of his Olympic triumph 12 months previously and the atmosphere was every bit as highly-charged in sweltering conditions in south-west London.
The Scot beat world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets, but the match – over three hours long – was anything but straightforward.
The final game was a thriller with Murray letting slip three match points before finally following in the footsteps of Fred Perry’s 1936 victory at the All England Club.
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On the hottest day of the year in 2013 millions of people all over the UK were glued to their TV and radio sets willing Andy Murray to end 77 years of sporting hurt by winning the Men’s Wimbledon crown.
When Andy Won Wimbledon is the emotional and heart-warming story of how so many people experienced Murray’s historic victory against Djokovic that day.
There are personal recollections from Murray himself and those closest to him, including mum Judy and girlfriend Kim Sears. We also hear from stars and public alike as they recall their own stories from this classic ‘where were you when moment’.
With contributions from John McEnroe, Sue Barker, Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Michael Parkinson, Amy McDonald and John Newman.
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