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Advantage Murray as BBC TV insists on Centre Court for its star attraction
Shekhar Bhatia and Jack Lefley30 Jun 2008
Wimbledon today denied it is showing "favouritism" to Britain's No 1 Andy Murray after he was placed on Centre Court for the fourth consecutive time.
Top players, including a former Wimbledon champion and others who have made it to the final and semi-finals, have had to make do with outside courts while Murray has been awarded centre stage.
The 21-year-old, the last British player in the tournament, was facing Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the fourth round today.
Murray has never made it to a Grand Slam quarter final. But he has now played all his matches on Centre Court with the advantage of the biggest home support available - a 15,000-strong crowd roaring him on.
A senior Wimbledon source said: "The TV schedulers from the BBC have demanded Murray stay on Centre Court and we are being pressed to have him on as late as possible for prime time TV audiences. I don't believe we can be correctly accused of showing any favouritism, as it is simply giving people what they want.
"Murray is the talk of Wimbledon and his continued success lifts the whole tournament, particularly for the spectators on the biggest court.
"He may not yet have established himself in the hearts of the Centre Court crowd the way Tim Henman did, but he is head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the current crop of British players and he has to be given the best showcase for all those who want to see him."
Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins today admitted television chiefs were involved in requesting which player should be on Centre Court at particular stages to meet viewer demand.
He added: "The most popular matches have to be seen on the major courts. There has been no favouritism towards Andy. Roger Federer has been on Centre Court the entire time. A lot of thought goes into the planning of these matches."
Leyton Hewitt, who won Wimbledon in 2002, has played on outside courts as well as Court One and Rafael Nadal, the beaten finalist during the last two years, has also been moved to Court One.
Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who has been a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, inflicted Murray's last defeat at the All England Club and also reached the final of a Grand Slam, has yet to be invited to play on Centre Court.
Current Wimbledon Ladies' champion Venus Williams and her sister Serena, who between them have taken six Wimbledon titles, are being farmed out to Court Two.
Even Britain's retired No1 Tim Henman was never afforded the luxury of enjoying his run entirely on Centre Court, despite being a four times semi-finalist.
Reader views (5)
I thought Andrew Castle's commentary during the Men's Finals was truly appalling. He was totally biased towards Nadal right from the start. He didn't really acknowledge Federer's incredible comeback from being two sets down and barely commented on some absolutely brilliant shots. In the end, I had to turn the sound off - please bring back Boris Becker next time.
- Marilyn Bodoh, london south east, 08/07/2008 00:18
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Stick Andy Murray on any old court. A quick poll of English Wimbledon fans I know would rather he lost, and his smug face was not Centre Court all the time.
- Rose Evans, Hillingdon, 30/06/2008 17:27
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The enjoyment of the Murray games has been spoiled for me by the BBC's choice of Andrew Castle and Tim Henman as commentators. The only time the standard of commentary improves is when McEnroe or Becker are allowed to give us the benefit of their far superior insights into the games.
- Jennifer, London, UK, 30/06/2008 14:43
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I trust that the Chairman of the All England Tennis Club ensures that serious disciplinary action is taken against any employee who manipulates the schedules in this way.
- Patrick Griffin, Dalston, London, 30/06/2008 14:18
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"There has been no favouritism towards Andy. Roger Federer has been on Centre Court the entire time."
From my recollection, Roger has won five times and richly deserves being on the Centre Court...forgive me, but the whole of the Freeview red button coverage on the BBC has been woeful, they cut off the Safin match after they'd each won just one set the other night!!
Clearly if it isn't a British player on court, the Beeb thinks that the viewing public won't be interested when in fact for me, it is the other way around...
- Pootle, Twickenham, 30/06/2008 12:52
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