Wimbledon commentator Andrew Castle has claimed his spat with pundit Andre Agassi was taken "out of context" this summer. The pair were live on air together for the men's semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz when the cameras started panning to celebrities in the Royal Box.

Agassi, 55, grew increasingly exasperated as he tried to make an analytical point about Fritz's play. Castle frequently cut him off to point out the high-profile figures in attendance, with the American arguing: "I can't keep up with all the celebrities." After Castle began talking about former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, Agassi lost patience and snapped: "People watching are watching for the tennis, not for this."

The comment went viral on social media, with the majority of fans siding with Agassi over the apparent dispute. However, Castle, 61, has now hit back by claiming the row was taken out of proportion.

"We had a laugh, and they took it out of context," he told Betway. "Afterwards, Andre sent me a text, saying what an unbelievable time he'd had, how he enjoyed it, and we were going to have him for the final but then he went into the Royal Box instead, but he had a great time."

Former professional player Castle has covered tennis for the BBC since 2003, and explained how he felt media coverage of the exchange was inaccurate and led to further criticism. He added: "He (Agassi) was saying that tongue in cheek whilst smiling at me, and in the final, I didn't mention any celebrities at all.

"I mentioned the second row of the Royal Box, which had the former champions in that row and that's all I mentioned in the final, and there were people afterwards who said, ‘all I talk about is the celebrities’. It's not the case, people hear a commentator's voice sometimes in their own head."

Castle also cited the viewing figures for the men's Wimbledon final, which attracted 8.8million viewers, as proof that fans were happy with the coverage. Agassi wasn't assigned the final, but fans have called for him to be back on air at SW19 next year.

Prior to Wimbledon, he joined TNT Sports as a studio analyst for their inaugural coverage of the French Open. Last month, he also made a popular appearance on Andy Roddick's Served Media YouTube show.