Clare Balding apologised to viewers on BBC One after the audio of Wimbledon commentator Todd Woodbridge suddenly cut out just before the live coverage paused for the news. The sound stopped midway through Tuesday’s semi-final between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic, seconds after the 24-time Grand Slam champion won the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead.
Balding acknowledged the interruption as they cut to an aerial view of the All England Club before announcing that their coverage of the match would continue on BBC Two during the news. Woodbridge was making a point during the pause in play about Auger-Aliassime when his voice trailed off mid-sentence before being replaced by the presenter’s as she rounded up the afternoon’s action.
The commentator said of Auger-Aliassime: “We’ve got two stars out here, haven’t we? We’ve got what Novak has done in the game and his dominance of the game. And then you’ve got this Canadian, you put him in a black tuxedo, and he looks like he could also be James Bond. He brings an extraordinary athleticism to the game and…”
After a brief pause as the audio faded out, Balding explained what happened, saying: “Apologies if that sounded a little sudden, but coverage is already over on BBC Two because we’ve got to leave you here on BBC One shortly for the news.”
However, there was still time to inform viewers that Karolina Muchova had beaten Naomi Osaka to become a Wimbledon semi-finalist for the first time. Balding also confirmed that the Czech player will face Coco Gauff in the final four, adding that Jannik Sinner was also through to the same stage in the men’s singles.
Balding explained: “Well, this is a match that looks highly unlikely to finish before the 11 o’clock curfew and we are getting close to our off air time here on BBC Two. So, coverage of this will continue on iPlayer.
“Alexander Zverev, the Roland Garros champion, having taken the first set 6-4 and looking pretty strong on serve. That continues on iPlayer, so if, along with Roger Federer, you want to keep locked onto this one, you can do so. Just select Centre Court from your iPlayer menu.”