大象传媒

Biographies

Sue Barker

A former world number three tennis player, French Open champion and Wimbledon semi-finalist, Sue started work as a sports broadcaster with Australia's Channel 7 in 1985.

She then joined BSB in 1990 and later moved to Sky Sports.

She made her 大象传媒 Sport TV debut co-presenting the evening highlights programme from Wimbledon '93 with Harry Carpenter.

Since then she has gained a wealth of experience presenting world class competitions, including coverage of other major tennis tournaments, Summer and Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games, The Grand National, The Derby, World and European Skating Championships and racing from Longchamp.

In addition, Sue has also hosted Sunday Grandstand and has worked on the 大象传媒 TV documentary Chalk Flew Up, a history of Wimbledon's number one court.

Her credits also include hosting Sports Review of the Year and A Question of Sport.

Among her many accolades are the 1998 TRIC award for Sports Presenter/Reporter of the Year.

John Inverdale

John began his broadcasting career with 大象传媒 Radio Lincolnshire in 1982.

He joined 大象传媒 Radio Sport in 1985, working for Radio 4's Today programme and on Radio 2 sports output, before joining Radio 5 in 1988 as presenter of its flagship sports programme, Sport On 5.

John has presented 大象传媒 Radio Five Live's coverage of many major sports events including Wimbledon Championships, Olympic Games and World Cups (football and rugby).

He also works extensively on 大象传媒 Sport's television output, hosting Rugby Special, Sunday Grandstand and Wimbledon.

He was named Sony Broadcaster of the Year in 1997 for his Radio Five Live drivetime show, and hosts Five Live's Any Sporting Questions.

Tony Adamson

Tony gained his first experience in broadcasting whilst working for the Forces Broadcasting Service.

Having worked as a junior newspaper journalist before joining 大象传媒 Radio Oxford in 1970 as a sports reporter, Tony subsequently became sports editor and on joining the 大象传媒 Sport department in London, Tony presented programmes such as Sport on Two and Sport on Four.

He spent six years working on tennis full-time and has been covering Wimbledon for 22 years.

John Alexander

Australian John Alexander has been a long time member of the 大象传媒's tennis commentary team.

John is best known for representing his country 11 times in the Davis Cup.

Chris Bailey

Chris is perhaps best remembered for his epic second-round encounter at Wimbledon in 1993 against fifth seed Goran Ivanisevic, which he lost 9-7 in the fifth set.

Born in April 1968 in Norwich, Chris reached the quarter-finals at Queen's in 1989 en route to a career-high world ranking of 126.

A former national under-12s champion (1980) and Wimbledon junior quarter-finalist in 1986, he retired because of injury in 1994.

Clare Balding

A former leading amateur flat jockey and champion lady rider, Clare's speciality is horse racing but she also covers a wide variety of other sports and assignments.

She began her 大象传媒 career with 大象传媒 Radio Five Live in 1993, presenting the racing bulletin on Danny Baker's Morning Edition.

Clare was appointed as 大象传媒 Sport's TV racing presenter in December 1997 following the retirement of Julian Wilson.

She also presents Any Sporting Questions with John Inverdale on Radio Five Live.

John Barrett

John succeeded the late Dan Maskell as 大象传媒 TV's 'voice of tennis'.

A former British number five, he played in every Wimbledon Championships between 1950 and 1970 and represented Great Britain in the Davis Cup in 1956 and 1957.

A highly respected tennis coach and administrator, John commentated on his first Wimbledon for 大象传媒 Television in 1971.

He has also worked for TV networks in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and America, as tennis correspondent for the Financial Times and is the author of many books on the game.

Boris Becker

Wimbledon crowd favourite Boris Becker joined the 大象传媒 Sport commentary team for the 2002 Championships.

Born in 1967 in Leimen, Germany, Boris became the youngest man to win Wimbledon at 17 years 7 months when he defeated Kevin Curren in 1985.

Over his career he won 49 ATP singles titles including six Grand Slam titles and became world number one for the first time after victory at the Australian Open in 1991.

Iain Carter

Radio Five Live's golf correspondent, Iain reports on Wimbledon and other major tennis tournaments throughout the year.

Iain joined the 大象传媒 in 1988 as a sports producer at 大象传媒 Radio Leicester, having previously worked as an agency news reporter and news reporter for 大象传媒 Radio Trent.

Following that he joined 大象传媒 World Service Sport and covered cricket tours in the West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

In 2002, Iain won the ATP Media Excellence Award.

Pat Cash

Pat was a popular winner of the Men's Singles title at Wimbledon in 1987, famously climbing through the seats on centre court to embrace his family after beating Ivan Lendl in straight sets.

Earlier that year, he lost a tough five-setter to Stefan Edberg in the final of the Australian Open.

Born in Melbourne in May 1965, he turned pro in 1982 and reached his highest ranking of world number four in 1988.

In 1984, he became the youngest player to compete in the Davis Cup Final, helping Australia to defeat Sweden 3-2.

Andrew Castle

A former British number one singles and doubles tennis champion, Andrew became a professional tennis player in 1986 after completing a marketing degree in America.

He was a member of the UK's Olympic teams in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, and also part of the British teams for the Davis and European Cups.

Andrew Castle is a regular presenter on GMTV.

Matt Chilton

Matt joined the 大象传媒 in 1997 when he joined the Ski Sunday team.

Matt has worked on the programme every season since joining but in 2001 he joined the 大象传媒's Bafta award-winning interactive television team to cover the Wimbledon Championships.

He has also branched into other sports - during Sydney 2000 he became the 大象传媒's main commentator for beach volleyball, a new sport in the Olympics.

Mark Cox

Mark's finest hour as a player was as a member of the Great Britain team which reached the final of the 1978 Davis Cup against the USA.

In the semi-final against Australia, he partnered David Lloyd to victory in the deciding doubles rubber.

Mark won 10 singles tournaments between 1970 and 1977, was twice a quarter-finalist in the Australian Open, reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 1966 and was runner-up at Queen's in 1977.

He was born in Leicester in July 1943.

Annabel Croft

After taking up tennis at the age of nine Annabel became, at 15, the youngest Briton to play at Wimbledon for nearly 100 years.

In 1984, she was a Wimbledon Junior Champion and a year later picked up her first senior tournament trophy in San Diego.

Annabel retired from the international circuit at 21, having established herself as British number one, ranked in the world's top 25.

She has since carved a career in entertainment, particularly on TV, has also worked as a tennis summariser for Eurosport and was a contestant in 大象传媒's Superstars in 2003.

Annabel married former America's Cup yachtsman Mel Coleman in 1993.

Barry Davies

One of the 大象传媒's most versatile commentators, Barry joined 大象传媒 Radio in 1963 after leaving the Army.

He was part of ITV's commentary team for the 1966 World Cup Finals and reported for ITV on the 1968 Olympics.

Barry rejoined the 大象传媒 in 1969 and has worked on a succession of World Cups, Summer and Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games, plus numerous Wimbledon Championships and Boat Races.

A Match Of The Day regular, he also commentates on ice skating, ice hockey and badminton.

Jill Douglas

Jill has worked in news and sport for most of her career and is an experienced rugby reporter.

Jill joined 大象传媒 Sport from Sky in March 2003.

In 1997, she worked for 大象传媒 Scotland presenting Rugby Special. She worked across television and radio reporting for Scotland as well as providing news for Grandstand.

In 1999, Jill joined Sky Sports as a sportsnews presenter and was also involved in their rugby, providing extensive coverage of Super 12s, as well as Golden League athletics meetings.

Jill's career began in local newspapers in the Borders and she studied journalism at Napier College in Edinburgh.

Jo Durie

Former British number one Jo reached a world ranking of five in 1983.

She first played at Wimbledon in 1977, losing in the first round to eventual champion Virginia Wade, and made her final appearance at the Championships in 1995, retiring after 18 years on the professional circuit.

Jo won seven national titles, reached the ladies' singles quarter-finals of Wimbledon and, with Jeremy Bates, took the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1987 and at the Australian Open in 1991.

Peter Fleming

Peter teamed up with John McEnroe to form the most formidable doubles partnership in the men's game during the Eighties.

The pair won the Wimbledon men's doubles title in 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1984 and took the US Open doubles crown in 1979, 1981 and 1983.

In total, Fleming and McEnroe took 57 doubles titles.

Ann Jones

Ann is one of Britain's most successful tennis players.

Wimbledon ladies' champion in 1969 and the beaten finalist in 1967 she was also a semi-finalist on a further six occasions and a mixed doubles champion (with Fred Stolle) in 1969.

She won the French Open in 1961 and 1966, reaching the final a further three times, and was twice a finalist at the US Championships.

A table tennis international between 1953 and 1959, Birmingham-born Ann began commentating for the 大象传媒 in 1970 and is an experienced tennis administrator.

John Lloyd

In reaching the final of the 1977 Australian Open, John Lloyd became the first Englishman to reach a singles final of a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

In the following year he achieved his highest ranking when he finished at number 21.

That year, John led an inspired British team to its most recent Davis Cup final where they were defeated by the US.

During his career he compiled three Grand Slam titles in mixed doubles, all with partner Wendy Turnbull, including back-to-back victories at Wimbledon in 1983 and 84.

He now continues to provide the mix of class and competitive fire that has made him one of the most popular players on the senior circuit.

John McEnroe

John first made Grand Slam headlines in 1977 while still in his teens by capturing the French Open mixed doubles title and reaching the singles semi-finals at Wimbledon.

He asserted his mastery on the professional circuit soon after with three successive US Open Championships in 1979, 1980 and 1981.

He ended Borg's five year reign at Wimbledon with a commanding victory in 1981 that promoted him to the men's top-ranked player (and the youngest to achieve it), a position he held for four years.

He took another Wimbledon title in 1983, but John McEnroe's most memorable year was 1984 when he won both Wimbledon and US Open titles.

In addition to his singles achievements, John dominated the field as a doubles player.

With longtime partner Peter Fleming, John earned four Wimbledon titles and three US Open titles, Masters titles seven years in a row, plus 40 other doubles titles.

John represented the United States in Davis Cup competition for many years, establishing the record for the most US Davis Cup wins (39 singles and 15 doubles).

David Mercer

Swansea-born David entered sports broadcasting as a freelance via 大象传媒 Wales in 1979 and joined 大象传媒 Radio Sport in London on a full-time basis in 1984.

Tennis has been his main sport since then but he has also commentated and reported on football, rugby union, rowing, skiing, skating, badminton, snooker, squash, ice hockey and American football.

David, a former solicitor, was Welsh junior doubles champion in 1968, captained the tennis team at Nottingham University in 1969 and umpired the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final in 1984.

Simon Reed

Simon's career began with 大象传媒 Radio in the late Sixties when he worked for 大象传媒 Radio Sport, 大象传媒 World Service and 大象传媒 Radio London.

From 1973, he was a presenter and reporter for Thames TV.

Simon's career as a tennis commentator began with Channel 4 in 1984, and he also freelanced for Sky and Eurosport.

In 1995, he became Head of Commentators for Eurosport specialising in tennis.

In 2002, Simon commentated for 大象传媒 TV at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

He has commentated on the last four Wimbledon Championships for 大象传媒 TV.

Michael Stich

Michael began playing tennis aged six and won the German national junior singles title in 1986.

His brilliant showing at Wimbledon in 1991 saw him beat Courier, defending Wimbledon champ Edberg and three-times winner Boris Becker in consecutive rounds for the title.

That year, he posted a 13-match winning streak which included reaching the quarter finals at the US Open and winning titles in Stuttgart, Schenectady and Vienna.

He also played the most singles and doubles on the Tour - 149 matches.

Other career highlights include leading his country to the Davis Cup title against Australia in 1993 for the first time since 1989 and finishing as German number one for the first time.

Michael served on the ATP Tour Player Council in 1991 and has an overall playing record of 35-11 (21-9 in singles).

He began the Michael Stich Foundation in November 1994 to help HIV-positive children in Germany.

Bill Threlfall

Former Fleet Air Arm pilot Bill began his commentary career with ITV, working for Thames and LWT.

He then worked for 大象传媒 Radio before switching to 大象传媒 TV in 1974.

As a player, he won a record eight Royal Navy titles, appeared at Wimbledon in the Fifties and represented England at international level.

Bill began coaching in Italy in 1967 and for the last 25 years has coached at London's Hurlingham Club.

A five-times winner of the National Veterans Championship, he has played for Great Britain in veterans competitions many times.

Virginia Wade

Virginia's victory over Betty Stove in the 1977 Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Final during the Queen's Silver Jubilee year remains one of the tournament's most memorable triumphs.

Born in Bournemouth in July 1945, her career also included winning the US Open in 1968, the Australian and Italian Opens in 1972 and four Grand Slam doubles titles.

听

Awarded the OBE in 1986, she has worked as a tennis commentator for the 大象传媒 since 1981.