ANDREW’S TIPS WHO I S LIKELY TO DO WELL AT WIMBLEDON

Novak Djokavic You have to say Novak to win – he’s holding all four grand slams. Andy Murray He’s playing as well as he has ever played. Serena Williams Is she feeling the pressure of being so close to Steffi Graf ’s 22title record? I wouldn’t bet against her. Garbiñe Muguruza is a potential winner – she could be the next big one. Kyle Edmund Britain’s number three is worth watching. Jo Konta is playing very well. It’s been a lovely surprise to see her get so high so quickly. She’s fascinating to watch, with a great head on her shoulders. Katie Swann She can take it easy at her first Wimbledon. stopped playing in 1992 – when Sophia became pregnant and so he leapt at the chance of a sports commentary job for Sky, with its steady income – he spent too much time alone and away from the family covering golf tournaments. As a result, he says today, ‘‘I will never be on the road again.’’

And despite his parents’ divorce, perhaps in reaction to it, or to those horribly lonely-sounding years, he has a really happy secure marriage to Sophia, a former flight attendant, four years his junior, who he met in a Tokyo book shop at age 25.

That sounds horribly like a Richard Curtis movie, I say. Castle looks properly smitten at the thought. ‘‘There was a cartoon moment, as though my eyes popped out. And after an hour I said to my mate, Jason: ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry.’ Within two months we were living together.’’

What Castle did fall out of love with was tennis. Three years into a pro career that lasted eight years he went into what he calls a ‘‘dark vortex’’.

‘‘I was cannon fodder at that time. There were moments, of course – but it was a hard physical slog. You are alone out there.’’

After he quit, Castle didn’t hit a ball for 10 years. And then, ‘‘I came back and hit a ball, and I laughed out loud and fell back in love with the game. So now I play the old men’s events.’’

He smiles: ‘‘And I get to sit with John McEnroe in the commentary box. And I think if mum could see me now. I have to pinch myself at how lucky I am.’’