You cannot be serious – fury as BBC dumps tennis

Published on Sunday 8 March 2009 20:47

TENNIS fans were up in arms yesterday after the BBC pulled coverage of the Davis Cup match in Glasgow because Britain could not win.

The BBC said the decision was made, with the backing of the International Tennis Federation, after the British doubles pairing of Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins lost to their Ukrainian rivals on Saturday in the Euro/Africa Zone Group One tie, leaving Sunday's final two matches "dead rubbers".

The corporation also said it made financial sense, as live tennis was expensive to broadcast.

The match was held in front of sell-out crowds at Braehead Arena, with extra tickets having to be added last month to meet demand. But coverage of yesterday's play was not even available on the BBC's "on demand" service, leaving some fans fuming.

One told The Scotsman: "It's a case of sing when you're winning. Does that mean if we get knocked out of Wimbledon in the first week, like we usually do, that the BBC will not show the rest of the tournament?

"We are supposed to be promoting tennis in Scotland. If we cannot be bothered showing it because we are losing, then that's not saying much for the BBC."