BBC forced to issue apology as Djokovic’s Wimbledon match disrupted | Tennis | Sport
The BBC were forced to apologise to viewers after a scoreboard malfunction during Novak Djokovic’s match with Arthur Rinderknech at Wimbledon meant the score was not available. During the third set, after the Serb had taken the first two, the scoreboard suddenly disappeared from television screens.
The graphic had been removed completely and instead the Beeb cameras were forced to ban back and forth to the actual scoreboard inside Centre Court, leaving the top-left corner of the screen blank. Lead commentator Andrew Cotter said: “Apologies for the lack of score graphic, we are working on it.”
When the scoreboard resumed, some viewers may have been shocked to see that Djokovic was 3-0 down in the third set, having relatively coasted to 7-5 and 6-4 set wins against his French opponent earlier.
He went on to lose the third set 6-1, causing considerable concern in the Wimbledon heat, with Friday being the warmest day of the Championship so far.
Djokovic, 39, struggled in the heat at the French Open during his defeat to youngster Joao Fonseca, and he punched himself as part of a massaging technique.
However, the broadcaster is not thought to be at fault for the scoreboard issue. The Centre Court feeds at the All England Club also lost their scoreboard access, which are connected to the BBC.
While the constant channel-hopping, forcing viewers to turn over between BBC1, BBC2 and iPlayer, has caused plenty of fans to voice their complaints.
The broadcaster switched BBC1 coverage from Wimbledon to the World Cup for England’s knockout match against DR Congo, despite many believing that the tennis coverage would remain, as it had stated so on the schedule before being amended.
