Clare Balding confessed to breaking one of broadcasting’s golden rules while live on air for BBC’s coverage at Wimbledon. The presenter admitted she had a “favourite” at the tournament she was covering as the programme recapped earlier matches from the day but almost in the same breath suggested the player in question might need anger management training.
Following the channel’s switch from tennis on BBC1 to World Cup coverage, Balding had a message for viewers who had changed over to BBC2 to follow the action at SW19. The presenter discussed how Flavio Cobolli needed two days to beat Mariano Navone after play was stopped for bad light.
Cobolli strangely claimed he would “hit” his dad and struggled to stand still while being interviewed on court. However, following the Italian’s eyebrow-raising on-court interview, Balding described the Italian as one of her “favourites”.
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“I just wanna break something now,” Cobolli joked during his interview before adding: “I cannot stop [moving my feet]. You see? I need to hit something! I think I will hit my dad now.”
Cobolli’s father, Stefano, is a former professional player who has since moved into coaching. He has worked with his son since Flavio was 17 years old.
When pressed further on the remark, the ninth seed elaborated: “For sure. The first person that I will hit. I still don’t know with what. You’ll see tomorrow if he has a black thing on the face.”
After the BBC played the footage, Balding had a big smile on her face. “I know we’re not meant to have favourites but he is one of my favourites,” she said. “I love Flavio Cobolli. Although he clearly now needs a bit of anger management training.”
View 2 ImagesFlavio Cobolli speaking after his first-round win(Image: BBC)
The BBC had come under fire for its coverage of the Championship, with viewers accusing the broadcaster of showing bias during Serena Williams’ comeback singles match on Tuesday. Frequent channel switches, which happened once again as England’s World Cup knockout clash against DR Congo took centre stage on Wednesday, have also drawn considerable scrutiny.
Even during the football coverage, the BBC faced a wave of complaints as their studio chose to divert attention away from Norway’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast to discuss Williams’ match against Maya Joint.
Aussie youngster Joint won the match in three sets, a result which has raised questions about the future of Williams’ singles career. Balding’s favourite Cobolli stormed through to the second round, where he will meet James Duckworth.
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