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The BBC commentator Andrew Castle has apologised after repeatedly getting the name of a top American footballer wrong.
Trinity Rodman, who is the girlfriend of the American tennis player Ben Shelton, criticised the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage in which Castle called her “Tiffany” several times.
The 23-year-old Olympic gold medallist who plays for the US women’s national team posted on Instagram saying: “For those who don’t know … my name is Trinity not Tiffany.”
The BBC said Castle apologised for “mispronouncing” Rodman’s name during Shelton’s fourth-round clash against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego on Monday.
Rodman, who is the estranged daughter of the former basketball star Dennis Rodman, also took issue with Castle referring to her father in the coverage.
When the camera was panned to the US forward who was sitting in Shelton’s box, Castle said: “Her father is Dennis Rodman, who’s one of the greatest sportsmen of all time in my opinion. The greatest rebounder in NBA history and the biggest wind-up merchant of all time.”
In response, Rodman said on Instagram: “Also, for Ben’s matches, he has his family there as his support system, which includes his dad. My dad’s not even in MY life, no need to bring him up during HIS matches when I don’t even want him talked about during mine. It’s him and his loved ones’ moment. Thank you.”
Rodman first announced her relationship with Shelton in March. Shelton, 22, is set to take on the No 1 seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Castle, a former tennis player, risked sparking a sexism row in 2016 after making comments about the appearance of the girlfriend of the British player Marcus Willis. He also faced criticism in 2022 after saying he was looking forward to welcoming back the six-time grand slam champion Boris Becker, who was in jail for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans to avoid paying his debts.
A BBC spokesperson said: “Andrew apologises for mispronouncing Trinity Rodman’s name during the Ben Shelton v Lorenzo Sonego match.”
