Clare Balding was abruptly shut down by Jannik Sinner when she tried to bring up the World Cup during a live interview at Wimbledon.
The BBC broadcaster, 55, was chatting to the world number one, 24, after he secured his place in the semi-finals with a straight-sets victory over Jan-Lennard Struff.
The Italian tennis champion talked about his friendship with fellow Italian player, ninth seeded Flavio Coolli, who faces British wildcard sensation Arthur Fery in the quarter-final on Wednesday.
However, he was quick to cut Balding off when she brought up football, considering Italy is not in the World Cup this year.
The interview kicked off with Sinner discussing Fery’s impressive run at Wimbledon so far, prompting Balding to remark: “You are genuinely watching every match, aren’t you? So presumably, you’re going to watch Djokovic against Auger-Aliassime?”
“I like to watch. I am a big tennis fan and also part-time tennis player! But no, I think it’s nice. I like to watch. Also, because here, you switch on the TV, it’s only about Wimbledon,” the four-time Major champion said.
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Unless it’s about football. That’s big too,” Balding replied.
Sinner was clearly hurting over Italy’s absence from the World Cup as he interjected, “Don’t talk about football, thank you,” prompting Balding to apologise.
Balding then shared her support for Fery, saying: “I love Flavio as well and I love watching him, but he is playing Arthur Fery.
“On the BBC, we’re quite behind our Arthur.”
“Yeah, and?” Sinner joked, before praising Fery. “We know that [the crowd is behind Fery], we accept it. But he had an amazing win, huh? We were watching yesterday, it was nice.”
However, the tennis ace made it clear he would be cheering on his fellow Italian Cobolli.
“I know him quite well, of course, being Italian. He is a great character. I think also people love him because he is very, very authentic, and that’s just how he is, also back in the locker rooms,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Balding has found herself in a sticky situation during the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon.
The former Celebrity Traitors star was shut down by Tim Henman during their post-match analysis on Monday for bringing up his match loss from decades earlier.
Balding mentioned that Fery's 24th birthday on Sunday coincides with the men's final.
"It’s his birthday on Sunday, Tim! Men’s finals day," the former Celebrity Traitors star said. Pundit Jamie Murray replied: "It’s written in the stars."
Balding continued: "And 25 years ago today, so before he was born, the only wildcard to win Wimbledon, Goran Ivanisevic, did that. I mean…"
Serbian player Ivanisevic beat Henman in a five-set semi-final before going on to win Wimbledon. It was the third of Henman's four losses at that stage in the tournament.
Henman was quick to butt in to avoid reliving his failure, saying: "This is a much better story, let’s not go back to 2001!"
Balding replied: "OK, let’s just keep looking forward, you’re right."
She is one of a rotating team of commentators providing BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon this year.
Andrew Castle remains lead commentator for this year’s tournament but recently revealed he will step down afterwards after reportedly being given a demotion.
The former tennis star, who has worked with the BBC for more than 20 years, admitted he feels “upset” over his departure.
The likes of Jonathan Overend, Nick Mullins, Nick Lester and Marcus Buckland have been tipped to replace Castle as the lead commentator.
