In tennis tournaments, viewers are often more likely to give home players more attention and lend them the most support. It is understandable if fans feel aggrieved that they cannot watch the local players on their screens, even if it is Serena Williams making her comeback after four years. That is the current situation at the Queen’s Club Championships, where fans have been critical of the broadcasters and tournament for neglecting the top-ranked home players.

The British duo of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter were scheduled to play on Court 1, opening their doubles campaign against Storm Hunter and Zhang Shuai. Both Raducanu and Boulter had played their opening singles matches on the main showcourt, the Andy Murray Arena. On any other day, the tournament would have put the doubles match featuring Raducanu and Boulter on the main court, but with Serena Williams making her Tour comeback alongside Victoria Mboko, it was tough to put the British duo’s match on broadcast. It was a no-brainer for Queens to put that match in the evening session on the main show court, as it would mean the largest audience.

It was an entertaining return for Williams as the first set went 7-6 in favor of Mboko and the 23-time Grand Slam champion. However, the next set was a quickfire 6-2 win, which helped them proceed to the next round.

The decision not to feature Raducanu and Boulter irked fans, who were disappointed not to see the local heroes. What added to their misery was that the BBC had decided only to air the matches from the Andy Murray Tennis Arena, and the other courts were not part of the coverage. This decision by the BBC meant that the fans could not even watch the other British players in action, such as Mika Stojsavljevic and Francesca Jones, both of whom lost in their opening rounds.

With the 23-time Major champion taking the win, the atmosphere was electric. On the other hand, it was only natural that the local fans were unhappy that they could not see a British duo in action at a British tournament, due to the BBC’s inadequate broadcasting arrangements.

Even last year, one of the British duo’s matches at Queen’s in the opening grass-court event ahead of Wimbledon was not televised by the BBC.

On social media, fans vented their frustrations at the tournament for prioritizing Williams over local players and also blamed the BBC for failing to uphold its broadcasting obligations.

Fans Expressed Their Frustrations as They Could Not See the Home Players at Queens

Fans expressed their disappointment at not being able to see the home players at Queens in quite strong terms. One fan directly blamed the tournament for putting Williams above the likes of Boulter and Raducanu. “Why aren’t the Brits on the best court. Disgraceful. Oh, hang on. It’s the Serena Williams show”, said the fan.

Another fan took a direct stance against the BBC, stating that it was their responsibility to air the event across all the match courts. The fact that it took quite some time for people to locate the Raducanu and Boulter match on their streaming services frustrated the fans even more. “Absolutely feeble coverage by the BBC. The fact that you have to search for it on iPlayer rather than it being featured on the home page tells you all you need to know about priorities. And the sycophancy towards Williams is nauseating”, said another fan.

Monetary considerations are powerful driving forces in every aspect of life, and tennis tournaments are no exception. With Williams playing this year, the BBC knew they could recoup quite a bit of profit by airing only the matches from center court, as viewership would be higher than normal. This was pointed out by a fan who said, “So poor, but I guess the LTA wanted more money than the bbc were willing to pay to show multiple courts”.

Another fan was disappointed, as he had to follow the Raducanu and Boulter doubles match by tracking the scores online: “Terrible, I could only find the score. Emma/Katie lost on a tiebreak 10-5. Very disappointed not to see the match,” he said.

Even though the British duo lost the doubles match, both had winning starts to their singles campaigns: Raducanu defeated Anna Blinkova, and Boulter defeated Leylah Fernandez.

With Williams winning the first doubles round, fans might still face limited streaming options for games with the British tennis stars, as her matches will get top priority, which is rare for doubles.