COMMENTATOR Nick Mullins joked not going to the toilet during Carlos Alcaraz’s epic five-and-a-half-hour thriller was a bigger achievement than the Spaniard’s French Open final win.
Alcaraz came from two sets down and saved three Championship points at Roland Garros to beat Jannik Sinner in a record-breaking final last month.
Mullins called every point alongside Jim Courier for UK tennis fans watching on TV – with the tournament broadcast by TNT Sports for the first time.
And for a man who has covered some of the grandest sporting events, he reckons nothing tops the Alcaraz-Sinner showdown.
Speaking to SunSport from the BBC’s Centre Court commentary box at Wimbledon, Mullins, 59, said: “I’ve commentated on England in Rugby World Cup finals but I think that was as good as it has ever got for so many reasons.
“Roland Garros is special in a different way from Wimbledon. The duration. The quality of the play.
“Jim and I realised we were seeing something special, we knew this was one of the great all-time finals.
“By the time we got to the fifth-set Championship tie-break, we had been yabbering away for five-and-a-half hours.
“We said nothing pretty much for the entire tie-break.
“It’s a little bit depressing as a commentator because you think you’re delivering little nuggets of gold with all the words that you use but actually I’ve never had more praise for saying nothing which is a double-edged sword!”
But as well as commentating on one of the most gripping and dramatic tennis matches ever, Mullins somehow managed to do so without a single comfort break.
He quipped: “It’s the height of my athletic achievement.
“We were supplied with Haribos.
“But for a man of my age to go five hours and 29 minutes without needing to go for a pee, that is almost one of the proudest things I’ve ever achieved.
“Forget what Alcaraz did, I don’t think I get the credit for going five-and-a-half hours without a pee!”
Mullins is best known for his rugby union coverage, where matches are done and dusted within a third of the time of that Roland Garros masterpiece.
So how does he find new ways to describe Alcaraz’s ever-growing collection of outrageous winners?
Well, sometimes the secret is not to even try.
The experienced broadcaster – who first covered Wimbledon for BBC radio in 1993 – explained: “There are two things. React naturally, try to imagine how you would react if you were at home.
“And sometimes again say nothing. The most powerful thing when he’s done an extraordinary shot is for the audience to know that it’s an extraordinary shot without me having to tell them.
“The key to television commentary is actually knowing when to shut up. We just drop little bits of perfume or paint in every now and again, just to add to the picture.
“I need to give my ears a rest. The art of television commentary is knowing not really what to say but when to say and when just to let you ride along with the natural sounds.
“TV commentators are almost like the conductors because there are several voices and sounds that you want to hear as the viewer: the umpire, the natural sounds… even if that is silence.
“Sometimes Centre Court is the most silent of silent places when they’re waiting to serve on match point, so don’t spoil that sound by talking over it.”
TV commentary is a different art form from radio, where listeners are reliant on those on the microphones to paint the full picture they cannot see.
But the power of silence was made abundantly clear to Mullins when he first started doing BBC TV duties at Wimbledon 15 years ago.
Mullins – who is ironically more recognised by his voice rather than his face – said: “There was an editor who used to say we never get letters from anyone complaining that the commentators don’t talk enough.
“Every word I use, I’m aware that there’s a chance I’m going to upset somebody.
“The fewer words I use, the less I’m going to get in the way and get between you and the players and the match.
“The editor used to say, ‘If you can go a whole game without saying a word, I’ll buy you a bag of doughnuts as a prize.’
“When Emma Raducanu hits a fabulous shot against Sabalenka last Friday night and the place goes wild, you don’t want a commentator talking over that.
“I’m thinking, ‘What do people at home want to hear now? Do they want to hear 15,000 people celebrating Emma doing extraordinary things against the world No1 or do they want to hear me talking about second serve percentages?’ I don’t have to think about it for long.”
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