Tennis enthusiasts have criticized the BBC for their decision not to broadcast live the doubles debut of British players Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter at the Queen`s Club tournament.
The popular British pairing teamed up for the first grass-court event leading up to Wimbledon.
Despite holding broadcasting rights for the tournament and significant interest following the recent French Open final, the BBC chose to focus solely on singles matches on the main court, now named the Andy Murray Arena.
While Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage, and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova were shown live on TV, this meant that Raducanu and Boulter – scheduled second on Court 1 – were overlooked on BBC Two.
Furthermore, their match against Fang-Hsien Wu and Xinyu Jiang was not available for British tennis fans to watch on either the red button service or iPlayer.
BBC presenter Isa Guha stated:
“Unfortunately, we won’t be able to show you this match because we’re focused on Andy Murray Arena, but we will be bringing you updates throughout the course of the afternoon.”
However, viewers tuning in were clearly unhappy with the decision.
One fan complained: “Errrrr you’ve got two Brits linking up in the doubles – don’t you think that might have been of an interest to the British viewers?”
Another reacted strongly: “You have the British women 1 and 2 playing together in doubles and you’re not showing it? Make it make sense!! So frustrating!!”
A third added: “You just showed a clip of Court 1 where Emma and Katie are starting their match; so why not show the match as a second option or one court on iPlayer and one on BBC Two? Very frustrating!”
A fourth commented: “Literally just showed us a clip of it why can’t we watch it?!!!!”
A fifth expressed anger: “Absolutely ridiculous you`re not showing Boulter/Raducanu in doubles.”
And a final user posted: “Why isn’t Court 1 on BBC iPlayer though? Can’t watch Boultercanu?”
Raducanu and Boulter convincingly won their match 6-4, 6-2 in 71 minutes, displaying visible joy and camaraderie throughout the game in front of the spectators.
This match marked Raducanu`s second career WTA doubles appearance and her first win.
When asked about potentially playing doubles together at Wimbledon, the former US Open champion downplayed the possibility, stating:
“It’s a spontaneous thing, we’re just trying to do the best we can this week. We thought about it in Madrid, Miami and Paris. Moving to the grass, which is a very different surface, it helps us get a feel of serving, returning and playing some points.”
However, her partner Boulter lightheartedly interjected:
“Scrap what she said – we’re going for the Wimbledon title! No, just kidding… we haven’t thought about that. We both return very well and have great volleys, so if one of us hits a good ball we can capitalise on that. I’m very confident that Emma is going to put the ball away if I hit a good shot.”
Raducanu, currently World No. 37, who mentioned she is still cautious in public after a stalking incident, is set to face Cristina Bucsa in her opening singles match on Tuesday.
Boulter will play Ajla Tomljanovic in her singles match.
The BBC has been asked for comment on the broadcast decision, which follows recent news that the BBC will share broadcast rights for the Wimbledon singles finals with TNT Sports for the next five years.
