The last time Sue Barker was not fronting the Wimbledon tennis tournament, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf finished as champions and Sir John Major was prime minister.
But the 66-year-old has decided that this year will be her last as the face of the BBC ’s summer tennis coverage as she prepares to hang up her microphone in SW19.
She has been part of the broadcaster’s coverage of the two-week sporting event since 1993 and the Devon-raised former Grand Slam champion has decided that it is game, set and match after three decades.
Here is a look at why Barker is leaving and who is in the running to replace her as the anchor of next year’s coverage.
Who is Sue Barker?
Before becoming a well-known face on television, Barker was a tennis player, becoming the third best ranked female in the world.
She won her first and only Grand Slam competition in 1976 aged only 20, picking up first place at the French Open. She remains the last British woman to have won the Roland Garros contest.
The next year, she almost made it an all-British Wimbledon final alongside Virginia Wade, but unexpectedly lost her semi-final bout.
Wade would end up winning the final and was the last Briton to win a Wimbledon singles title until Sir Andy Murray secured the men’s title in 2013.
After retiring in the mid-1980s, Barker took up broadcasting, working for an Australian channel and then Sky before landing at the BBC.
She was the longstanding presenter of A Question of Sport and the BBC's Sports Personality Of the Year final before stepping down from the shows in 2020 and 2013 respectively.
The Cotswolds resident has also fronted the broadcaster’s Olympics and horse racing coverage, including the Grand National, during a glittering career.
Barker married landscape gardener and former policeman Lance Tankard in 1988. She had previously broken off an engagement with Australian tennis player Syd Ball and had a romance with singer Sir Cliff Richard.
Why is Sue Barker leaving Wimbledon?
In June 2022, Barker announced that she will retire as presenter of the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage at the end of this year’s tournament, having become synonymous with the grass pitch event during her lengthy tenure.
She admitted she would “miss it terribly” but felt that the “time is right” to move on.
Barker later revealed that she had thought about giving up the gig after 25 years due to the increasingly long hours involved but said she was “so glad” to have made the decision to stay on for five more years.
Who could replace Sue Barker as Wimbledon presenter?
The favourites to replace Barker are familiar faces to sports fans. Former US tennis ace John McEnroe makes the 10-person bookies shortlist, along with former British number one Tim Henman, who both commentate for the BBC during the fortnightly competition.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “The odds suggest Sue Barker’s Wimbledon replacement will be no stranger to our screens, with Clare Balding and Gabby Logan currently heading the betting to get the gig.”
- Clare Balding - 2/1
- Gabby Logan - 3/1
- Tracy Austin - 4/1
- Andrew Castle - 9/2
- John McEnroe - 6/1
- Alex Scott - 8/1
- Annabel Croft - 8/1
- Greg Rusedski - 10/1
- Tim Henman - 12/1
- Judy Murray - 20/1
