In our exclusive interview, the former British No.1 previews the upcoming French Open and discusses Novak Djokovic’s chances of winning a 25th Grand Slam title.
In our exclusive interview, former British No.1 Andrew Castle discusses the upcoming French Open, previewing Novak Djokovic’s chances of winning a record 25th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic is currently behind Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev in the tennis betting odds to capture the title at Roland Garros, but Castle believes the 39-year-old could still make one last push for the trophy.
The tournament will also see Emma Raducanu reunite with Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided her to the US Open title in 2021, and Castle hopes she can begin enjoying her tennis again after a disappointing run of results in 2026.
Castle also expressed hope that Jack Draper can return injury-free ahead of Wimbledon after a torrid spell that has seen him play just 10 matches in 11 months.
The tennis commentator also shared his thoughts on players refusing to carry out media duties ahead of the French Open amid calls for increased prize money.
Emma Raducanu has been drawn against Solana Sierra, what does she need to do to get back to winning ways?
For Emma, even though she knows how to play on clay, the clay-court season is about getting matches, constructing points, being out there and toughening up technically, for what’s ahead of the grass-court season. I’m sure that is the thinking.
Whatever comes her way on the clay comes her way on the clay, but really, it’s about feeling the court under her feet, the match court. We said this years ago. I know we talk about Emma, but everybody who I know in tennis, and I’ve been involved in it for 50-plus years now, I have never seen anybody not play matches but be match tough.
There is such a thing as match tough, and if you are injured or suffering from the effects of a virus or whatever it is, and let’s be honest, it’s been a bad run for a long time, the bottom line is you’ve got to play matches because when it gets to 4-4 and it’s 30-30 in a game, you don’t want to be thinking. You want to be completely unthinking. You want to be just competing.
It’s hard enough just playing the opposition down the other end, playing the ball, without having to overthink. There’s no way, if you just practice, you’re going to be ready to play matches. So, we said that, and of course, one was criticised for saying it.
The other thing was, we were all saying, well, “why would you change coach from the bloke who’s just been alongside you for the US Open?” Subsequently, why has she had all the coaches that she’s had? It’s a perfectly legitimate question to ask. Why have you had so many coaches?
Have they said something wrong? Do you disagree with it? Do you not want to hear what they have to say? Can you not absorb what they’re saying? I mean, I don’t really understand the amount of coaches she’s gone through.
Jack Draper has suffered a lot of injuries and could be outside the top 100 by the time Wimbledon comes around – are you concerned for his career?
Well, the news that I got is that he is working with James Trotman again. I kind of like that. It was very friendly, the parting of the ways, and Jack had to deal with it.
James had to take a step back. The intensity of the life on the road – I mean, James has got children and everything else. But he’s back in the fold because Andy can’t commit absolutely 100% to every single hour of every day because of prior commitments over the course of the grass-court season to travel with Jack again.
So, if anybody can get something out of a grass-court season that comes on the back of zero matches, then perhaps those two can. So, I’m very happy to see them. James is fantastic, and Jack’s a great lad.
Jack is good enough that if he wins a match or two at Queen’s and gets stuck in, then perhaps he takes that into the next week he plays a tournament or maybe he doesn’t, depending on what happens at Queen’s.
Then he gets a draw that favours him. Suddenly, he could have five, six, seven wins under his belt, and he’s going to feel pretty cool going in [to Wimbledon]. But I would think that he would feel pretty stiff, pretty quickly because there’s no substitute for playing a match.
Since Wimbledon last year, for the remainder of 2025 he played one match, and then in 2026 he’s won five and lost four. That’s ten matches in 11 months. That’s less than a match a month, which is far from ideal.
So, there’s no way in the world you could pick him to win anything, but he’s good enough and he’s got such a big game that nobody wants to play him. He’s a total wild card for me. I can’t wait to see him play.
He is thrilling to watch. I like him. That much is obvious. I’ve played with his mum and his dad and seen him since he was a little baby, and it would be so wonderful if he got a good run going. It would pick the tournament up too because, in the absence of Carlos, Jack brings a little bit of glamour.
If Draper can get some match fitness, could it work nicely ahead of the US Open too?
Well, his last victory on tour is not a bad one if you want to pull something from the memory banks. His last victory was at Indian Wells against Novak Djokovic. That’s handy enough, isn’t it? But it’s no platform to build on. Indian Wells was winter for us, so that’s how long ago it was.
In general, what would you say the state of British tennis is right now?
Well, you take Emma out and you take Jack Draper out, and obviously it changes things around a bit. People have never really completely invested in Cameron Norrie, but I love the bloke.
I play at the same club as his dad. He’s great but they like it quiet and Cam likes it quiet. So, he gets it. This bloke’s been to the semi-final of Wimbledon and was anonymous doing that because people don’t easily identify with. That’s just a fact.
But that works for him. British tennis have a lot to thank TCU for. That’s one hell of a university programme. I played them when I was at Wichita State. They produced Jack Pinnington Jones, Jacob Fearnley and Cam Norrie. That’s basically a Davis Cup team.
On the women’s side, Katie Boulter, maybe she gets a run, but realistically she’s not a title threat. But there’ve been many, many years, including when I was playing, when there was no title threat, believe me.
Jack and Emma are the two leading players in British tennis and have that box office appeal, so let’s hope Emma can get back to winning ways and Jack can return from injury to become the force that we believe he can become.
It’s been reported that quite a lot of the players won’t be doing as much media work at the French Open to show everybody that they want more money, what do you make of it?
Well, the first observation I would make is, if you go up to somebody in the street and you say, for instance, “What do you think about the tennis at the Madrid Masters 1000?” They’re going to go, “What are you talking about?”
Or Shanghai or the Indian Wells – they don’t know what that is. I’m talking about the wider audience, the sport, the back pages, the editors of newspapers, the people who put endless reams of stuff online. They are not pumping out material on those tournaments.
They will follow stories and they’ll report on it, and they’re great tournaments and it’s no disrespect, but ultimately, with the proliferation of digital TV, a broad spread of stuff coming at you the whole time, information, tournaments — you can see every match and there it is up on your screen. Tennis suits TV. It suits the digital age.
It’s all about content. Tennis fills it beautifully, and it has a very convenient thing called a sit-down between games, and that’s 90 seconds long, and that is perfect for a commercial break which you can sell worldwide.
Nobody knows what they’re watching, right? Seriously. So, what you’ve got is the four Grand Slam championships, and everybody knows what they are. The companies know what they are, the sponsors know what they are, the shoe, racket or clothing companies, the badges on arms, sticking hats on coaches and paying them for sitting in the player box — all of that is about the Grand Slams.
The Grand Slams, they have an identity and they’re a brand. So, all I would say to the players is, you may well have a point about a share of revenue, and you may well have disputes or questions that you want to ask and discuss, and you may feel all of these things. And I get that. They are the number one thing. The players are everything.
But just remember the platform. They may be the head, but the neck is the Grand Slams and without the slams and without working together, the game suffers. So, before you withdraw your labour in some way and think it’s going to make even the slightest bit of difference to not speak to the press, remember, the person that you’re not selling is you. I don’t think it looks good.
The last thing we need is people who are handsomely paid suddenly acting sullen or difficult. But they may well have a point. They may well have a point about share of revenue. Let’s continue to talk about that and a streamlined schedule and all the rest. But there’s a lot to talk about, and the dialogue goes on. But don’t start thinking that work-to-rule is going to benefit you, because it won’t, in my opinion.
What do you see Novak Djokovic doing at this stage in his career? Do you expect he’ll play a very limited schedule and can he still win a Grand Slam doing that?
With Carlos Alcaraz out as well for the French Open, I see that in the French Open draw he’s on the other side to Sinner. I have thought right from when he won his number 24 and Alcaraz and Sinner arrived, he’s not as good as those two anymore. He’s not got the weapons that those two have now.
But I have thought at some point he’s going to have a deep run in a slam. And of course he did. He made the semi-finals of all four of them, and he’s bound to have one last run.
Let’s be honest, in Australia, he beats Sinner before losing to Alcaraz, and the big vibe is that he can’t beat two in a row, but he might be able to beat one of them. And why not?
At the age of 39, maybe one last push. Now there’s the story. That would be glorious. That would be cool to see because he’s the best I’ve ever seen.
Do you think Djokovic would retire if he was to win the French Open or Wimbledon?
I don’t think there’s any way of knowing, but it would be a very cool way to go out. I don’t know what else is driving him. He’s won everything 10 times, and I can’t understand the drive that keeps him going. It’s the pain, the rehab, the recovery. People don’t see any of that.
They see the moments in the sunshine, but it’s hard to stay as sharp and as fit and to recover as quickly as he is. He goes on holiday and spends three or four hours a day stretching, even on holiday. I mean, give it a rest, lad. But he’s awesome. He’s inspiring. And I think there’s got to be one last go in him.
What happens if Sinner doesn’t make it to win six matches? You know Novak’s going to be around, and on grass — he knows what he’s doing. Half the tour haven’t got a clue what’s going on with the grass court because they never play on it. It’d just be quite a fitting moment for him to win that 25th, sliding side to side, hitting a backhand winner and roaring at Wimbledon.
