Andrew Castle

Andrew Castle

Country	United Kingdom
Residence	London, England
Born	(1963-11-15) 15 November 1963 (age 49) Epsom, Surrey, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	79 kg (12 st 6 lb)
Turned pro	1986
Retired	1992
Plays	Right-handed (1-handed backhand)
Prize money	$344,338
Singles
Career record	22–57 (27.85% at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0 1 Challenger
Highest ranking	No. 80 (13 June 1988)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	1R (1987, 1988, 1991)
French Open	NP
Wimbledon	2R (1986, 1987)
US Open	3R (1987)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R (1988)
Doubles
Career record	63–70 (at ATP Tour, Grand Prix tour, WCT tour, and Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 45 (19 December 1988)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1991)
French Open	3R (1987)
Wimbledon	2R (1986, 1987)
US Open	QF (1987)
Mixed Doubles
Career titles	0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open	F (1987)
Last updated on: October 25, 2012.

Andrew Nicholas Castle (born 15 November 1963) is an English retired tennis professional, former British No. 1, and now a television presenter.

[edit] Biography

Castle was born in Epsom, Surrey. His mother, Lavinia Pollock (born Kathleen Mary, great-grandchild of Annie Besant), was adopted shortly after her birth. She married Frank Castle in April 1953. The couple had five children: James; Richard; David; Fiona; and Andrew, who was born in 1963.^[1]

Castle's father ran the fishmongers in Westerham, Kent, where his customers included the lady of nearby Chartwell House, Winston Churchill's wife Clementine. He went on to own shops in North Cheam; Norbury; Stoneleigh, Surrey; and owned a fish and chip shop in Taunton, Somerset (Kingston Road).^{[citation needed]}

He plays guitar in his spare time and loves Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

[edit] Tennis career

At the age of nine, Andrew was asked by a friend to come and play tennis: "I can remember every detail about the day, from the feel of the ball to how it sounded when coming off the net. I insisted we played for eight hours non-stop." His parents supported him, but ran out of money, and his father was declared bankrupt, so both of them became taxi drivers. After winning the UK under-12 national tennis championships, Castle was given a full tennis scholarship to Millfield School in Street, Somerset. When Castle was 15, his parents separated, and he had to leave Millfield, taking his A-levels at a local grammar school.^[1]

Castle became a professional tennis player in 1986, after completing a Marketing degree whilst on an athletic scholarship in the United States. During his playing career, he was regularly ranked number one in Great Britain. He won three tour doubles titles, and was a mixed doubles finalist at the 1987 Australian Open. His 1987 run at the US Open was his best career singles performance at a Grand Slam event, when he reached the third round, losing to Boris Becker in four sets. He represented Britain at the Seoul Olympic Games of 1988, and the Barcelona Olympic Games of 1992. Castle was a regular member of the British Davis Cup team and the European Cup team. His career-high rankings were World No. 80 in singles and No. 45 in doubles.

Castle represents Surrey at squash at over-45s level, and continues to play representative tennis around the world.

[edit] Singles: 1 (0 titles, 1 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-Up	1.	1988	Seoul Open, South Korea	Hard	Dan Goldie	3–6, 7–6, 0–6

[edit] Doubles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Winner	1.	1988	Seoul Open, South Korea	Hard	Roberto Saad	Gary Donnelly Jim Grabb	6–7, 6–4, 7–6
Runner-Up	1.	1988	Toronto, Canada	Hard	Tim Wilkison	Ken Flach Robert Seguso	5–7, 3–6
Winner	2.	1988	Rye Brook, USA	Hard	Tim Wilkison	Jeremy Bates Michael Mortensen	4–6, 7–5, 7–6
Winner	3.	1990	Adelaide, Australia	Hard	Nduka Odizor	Alexander Mronz Michiel Schapers	7–6, 6–2
Runner-Up	2.	1991	Manchester, England	Grass	Nick Brown	Omar Camporese Goran Ivanišević	4–6, 3–6

[edit] Mixed doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents in the final	Score in the final
Runner-Up	1987	Australian Open	Hard	Anne Hobbs	Zina Garrison Sherwood Stewart	3–6, 7–6(5), 6–3

[edit] TV career

After retiring from professional tennis in 1992, Castle served as a commentator and presenter for BSkyB. He presented basketball, motor racing, and golf for Sky.

He joined GMTV in September 2000 as a presenter. After a decade, it was announced in June 2010 he was to leave the programme. Castle presented the final broadcast of GMTV on 3 September 2010.^[2]

He is also a member of the Bafta-nominated BBC tennis team, covering Wimbledon, the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club, the French Open, Australian Open, and the Davis Cup. Castle has been lead commentator on all men's singles finals since 2003, working alongside John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Tim Henman, and John Lloyd.

In 2005, he presented the quiz show Perseverance; he is the presenter of game show Divided; and has appeared on Beat the Star on 24 May 2009 - all on ITV. He took part in a new ITV programme 71 Degrees North in 2010.^[3]

In 2011, he was the front man for a First4lawyers television advertisement.

[edit] Strictly Come Dancing

Castle competed in the sixth series of the celebrity dance competition, Strictly Come Dancing. His partner was Ola Jordan. Castle's appearance marked the third time a main GMTV presenter has participated in the show. After Week 4, he was placed 11th out of the remaining 12 contestants, with an average score of 22.5/40. Andrew was voted out after round 7 of the competition on Sunday, November 2. He scored 21 points for his samba, which placed him second from bottom on the judges' leader board. He appeared in the dance-off with Heather Small, who was saved by all four of the judges.

[edit] Personal life

On May 18, 1991, Castle married former Japan Airlines air hostess Sophia, whom he had met in Tokyo whilst competing in The Japan Open tennis tournament.^[1] The couple have two children: Georgina (19), and Claudia (17).Georgina sang for the Great Ormond Street Hospital charity at the Inter Continental Hotel in May 2008, and gained considerable attention from press and record companies. Both children are sports scholars at their schools. On August 11, 2009, Castle challenged Health Secretary Andy Burnham during an interview on GMTV, after news reports had cast doubts on the effectiveness of Tamiflu against the swine flu virus. He said: “I can tell you that my child — who was not diagnosed at all — she had asthma, she took Tamiflu and almost died.” He is Annie Besant's great-great grandchildren who was a prominent British socialist, Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self-rule.

Castle is a supporter and Patron of Shooting Star Chase which supports families at Christopher's Hospice in Surrey, and in their own homes and communities in South West London, Surrey, and Sussex, England. In April 2006, he attempted to run the London Marathon as President of The Brain and Spine Foundation Team but was hospitalised after falling unconscious after managing 25 miles of the 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) course.^[4] Other charities of which he is a patron or supporter include Brainwave, The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust, Great Ormond Street Children's hospital, Macmillan Cancer Care, the NSPCC and Clic Seargent cancer care for children.

In 2009, Andrew became a Patron of Festival4Stars talent competition, his daughter Georgina Castle was twice a runner up in the national finals.She now attends Central School of Speech and Drama in London Drama Festival4Stars: Welcome, International Songwriting Competition and UK Wide Talent Contest</ref>

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website
• ATP Tennis Player Profile
• Andrew Castle at the Internet Movie Database
• Andrew Castle at the Davis Cup
• sports-reference