David Mercer
Tennis umpire and BBC commentator who broadcast alongside John Mcenroe at Wimbledon
DAVID MERCER, who has died suddenly aged 70, was one of the great sports commentators of his generation; his mellifluous voice with its Welsh lilt, and his encyclopaedic knowledge of sport – particularly tennis and rugby – made him an engaging and authoritative media presence for more than four decades.
Before becoming a professional commentator he was also a top-class tennis official, and the only person to have been an umpire and a commentator (on both radio and television) at a Wimbledon final.
David Mercer was born on April 15 1950 in Swansea, the second child of John, a hard-working lawyer, and his wife Barbara, who both encouraged their bright son’s love of sport. He attended the Welsh public school, Christ College, Brecon, where he captained the Colts’ rugby XV. But he disliked boarding, and after taking his O-levels transferred to Dynevor Grammar School in Swansea.
Young David was also forging a reputation as a dogged and tactical tennis player, and when he won a Welsh junior doubles title he briefly considered a career on the pro circuit. But after realising he would never hit the heights internationally, he chose to read Law at Nottingham University, where he captained the tennis team. Then, like his older sister Susan, he qualified as a solicitor, before working at his father’s firm, DJM, becoming a partner in 1973.
“When I was very young my father represented the last man hanged in Wales,” Mercer recalled. “There was no question his client was guilty, but they argued it should be diminished responsibility. The jury didn’t agree and he was hanged in Swansea Prison. I remember my father being quite affected by the whole case.”
By his early twenties, Mercer was already looking to make a career in sport and had become an accomplished umpire, taking the chair at tournaments at the Queen’s Club and Davis Cup ties.
In 1973 he received his call-up to officiate at Wimbledon for the first time, and 10 years later was selected as chair umpire for the men’s doubles final. In 1984 he umpired the memorable men’s singles final in which the irrepressible “Superbrat” John Mcenroe all but whitewashed the former champion Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in about 80 minutes.
Mercer never took Mcenroe’s histrionics too seriously and always insisted that he found Connors the more difficult to deal with.
When the broadcaster Chris Bowers later asked him whether he felt slightly robbed that his one Wimbledon final as an umpire was one of the shortest, he replied: “I presided over a master craftsman at the peak of his powers. How could I ever feel robbed? It was a privilege.” And Anthony Blackburn, Mercer’s long-time agent, recalled: “John Mcenroe called him a s--once and he always enjoyed that.”
Although he seemed on the verge of becoming one of the tour’s first paid international umpires, Mercer had also been pursuing a parallel career as a broadcaster. In 1979 he had won a competition run by BBC Radio Wales to cover sport on Saturday afternoons. He enjoyed this freelance work so much that a few weeks after umpiring that Wimbledon singles final he moved to London to work for the BBC full-time as a radio correspondent, specialising in tennis.
When Mcenroe began working with Mercer in the commentary box the pair enjoyed a teasing rapport, the American exploding in mock rage before their first broadcast together: “My God, they’re giving me an umpire!”
When the BBC’S revered television commentator Dan Maskell retired in 1990, two years before his death, Mercer took his place. He had already built an impressive reputation for versatility, covering a variety of other sports including American football, cricket and rugby union, plus badminton, rowing and skiing at several Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
Chris Bowers (a co-founder of Tennis Radio Network with Mercer, Craig Gabriel and Richard Evans) was a great admirer of his friend’s voice, which, he said, “belonged in the same category as Welshmen like Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins. It had a depth that added drama to any situation he was commentating on, but it had warmth, too.
“It went with his impeccable sense of timing. I remember when Lukas Rosol shocked Rafael Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon, David deliberately held back for a couple of seconds after the ace with which Rosol sealed victory, before saying, ‘A truly remarkable result!’ That pause did justice to the moment better than any words could.”
Fascinated by politics, Mercer was a true-blue Tory who often privately criticised what he regarded as the BBC’S Left-wing bias, and twice stood for Parliament as a Conservative candidate in the supposedly safe Labour seat of Swansea West.
In 1979, on the tide that swept Margaret Thatcher to power, he came within 401 votes of upsetting the long-serving MP Alan Williams. During the 1983 general election he helped in the prime minister’s private office.
Mercer was renowned for his droll sense of humour and generosity towards his colleagues, mentoring young broadcasters including Clare Balding, Jo Durie – and
Annabel Croft, who worked with him for more than 20 years.
“I was in awe of his skills,” she recalled. “He was self-effacing but highly intelligent and knowledgeable – brilliant at setting the scene and telling the story with warmth and fluency. I specially admired the way he was always truthful about what was happening. He never tried to over-hype an average match. I learnt so much sitting beside him.”
Mercer’s first two marriages ended in divorce but he found lasting happiness with his third wife Sue Penny, a twice-widowed geography teacher and fellow umpire from Yorkshire who shared his passion for tennis and golf. They married in 1999, more than a quarter of a century after meeting on their first day as line judges on an outside court at Wimbledon.
“The Chief of Umpires said to us: ‘You’re new together; you’d better get to know each other. Now off you go to Court 17,’” Sue recalled, “and we tootled off together to do a line.”
The couple settled at Wendover in Buckinghamshire but travelled widely, Sue often accompanying him to tournaments and on cruise ships where he was a popular speaker. They also enjoyed highly competitive battles on the golf course. Mercer, who played off a handicap of 12, had captained Ashridge Golf Club in Berkhamsted. In football Mercer was a lifelong Swansea City supporter, Sue a loyal follower of Leeds United.
Mercer remained part of the BBC’S Wimbledon commentary team for 35 years, but also worked for Eurosport and latterly BT Sport. Despite progressive osteoarthritis he continued to broadcast until a few months before his death.
David Mercer is survived by his wife Sue, a daughter of his first marriage, and two stepchildren.
David Mercer, born April 15 1950, died August 26 2020