BBC Commentator Gets Himself In Hot Water

Written by: Staff on 8th July 2013

BBC Commentator Gets Himself In Hot Water

epa03777997 Marion Bartoli of France returns to Sabine Lisicki of Germany during the women's final for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

BBC commentator John Inverdale got himself into some hot water with some tasteless remarks about Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli. Before the Frenchwoman went out on court against Sabine Lisicki he said:

“I just wonder if her dad, because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life, did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14 maybe, ‘listen, you are never going to be, you know, a looker. You are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you’re never going to be 5ft 11, you’re never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that. You are going to have to be the most dogged, determined fighter that anyone has ever seen on the tennis court if you are going to make it’, and she kind of is.”

The BBC was forced to apologize for the remark.

When told about it, Bartoli said: “It doesn’t matter, honestly. I am not blonde, yes. That is a fact. Have I dreamt about having a model contract? No. I’m sorry. But have I dreamed about winning Wimbledon? Absolutely, yes… I invite him to come to see me in my dress and high heels tonight at the tournament ball. It could change his mind.”

Before the men’s final began, Inverdale did a mea culpa: “Before we start, I probably ought to just briefly return to yesterday and a clumsy phrase that I used about Marion Bartoli which has understandably caused something of a furor. The point I was trying to make, in a rather ham-fisted kind of way, was that in a world where the public perception of tennis players is that they’re all 6ft tall Amazonian athletes, Marion – who is the Wimbledon champion – bucks that trend.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: BBC tennis, John Inverdale, Marion Bartoli, Sabine Lisicki, Sports, Wimbledon Championships