The BBC's coverage of Wimbledon is looking a little different this year, with Sue Barker absent for the first time since her retirement.
National treasure Barker, 67, actually fronted the BBC's Wimbledon coverage for a remarkable 30 years, and bid an emotional farewell to her role in July 2022.
The former world No. 3 first presented the broadcaster’s coverage in 1993 but retired last summer after turning down a three-year contract extension which would have taken her to 2025.
Barker, the former face of Wimbledon who competed in the tournament's semi-finals back in 1977, was paid a six-figure salary of between £185,000 and £189,999, according to last year's BBC high earners list.
Upon bidding farewell to the tournament she has brought to millions of viewers over the years, Barker was moved to tears a year ago by on-air tributes paid to her by a multitude of iconic figures in the world of tennis including British tennis great Andy Murray, who suggested Barker's greatest achievement may be cultivating such a top-quality broadcasting career that younger audiences didn't even realise she was once French Open champion, back in 1976.
“I’ve watched her on the TV growing up, whether that was Wimbledon or a Question of Sport,” the Scotsman said at the time. “She was obviously an amazing tennis player but a lot of people maybe don’t realise that about her because she has become so good at what she does now.”
Of course, some of Barker's most emotional interviews were with Murray: in 2012, when he lost to Roger Federer, and the following year when he finally became the first Brit male to win Wimbledon for 77 years.
Signing off from Wimbledon, Barker told viewers: "Ah, this is going to be embarrassing. It's been an absolute privilege - I've loved it, 30 amazing years, thank you. I'll miss the job. I wish I had the next 30 years because I love it but most of all I'm going to miss the people I work with in front of the camera, behind the camera. You've just been absolutely amazing. I've just been so proud to front the programme. Thank you."
While Barker had the option of staying on for another three years, she has spoken of her desire to bow out on top of her game, while the death of her mother Betty aged 100 in 2022 also played a part in her decision.
“What a wonderful time I’ve had working on some of the biggest sporting events around the world. I will miss it terribly but after 30 years I feel the time is right for me. I’ve worked with the best of the best,” Barker said in an official BBC statement. “My mum was always so interested in my broadcasting career. And we would speak every evening. When something like that happens it does make you reassess life, which is another reason I think this is the right time.”
Barker went on to tell the Daily Mail that she had actually considered quitting five years prior, saying: "When I started I never thought I would manage 30 years. I had actually made up my mind to leave in 2017 because the hours were becoming very long and quite challenging. That would have been 25 years and seemed a good time, but I am so glad I made the decision to stay on."
Who is Sue Barker's BBC Wimbledon replacement?
Experienced broadcaster Clare Balding becomes the BBC's lead Wimbledon presenter.
Upon that confirmation in March, she said: "It's a huge honour to be given this responsibility but I am very aware that no one person can fill Sue's shoes. It's my job to bring out the best in them and to help make our viewers feel they have a front row seat on the greatest sporting stage."
Sue Barker's tennis record
Barker made her playing debut aged 16, and went on to win 11 WTA Tour singles titles and one Grand Slam after triumphing at the 1976 French Open.
She became LTA Colour Holder - designed to acknowledge and celebrate players who have represented Great Britain at tennis - after representing the UK in what is now the Billie Jean King Cup in 27 ties.
Barker reached one final match in 1980 and won the last singles title of her career at the Brighton International in 1981, finishing the year ranked as world No. 16. She won her last doubles title match in 1982 at Cincinnati and played her last professional tennis game in 1984.
The move into TV
Post-retirement, Barker became a commentator and sports reporter for Australia's Channel 7 in 1985 and then became Sky's tennis coverage anchor between 1990 and 1993. She then joined the BBC team to present their Wimbledon coverage, and made the role her own for three decades. Barker also fronted BBC coverage of the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Grand National.
Barker was awarded an OBE in 2016 for services to broadcasting and charity.
The regrettable A Question of Sport exit
For 24 years, Barker also hosted the Question of Sport quiz show, becoming presenter of the long-running show in 1997 to replace the late David Coleman.
She retired from this role following the BBC's decision to revamp the show, and recorded her last episode in September 2020. Barker was later replaced by Paddy McGuinness amid a row about ageism.
Barker's team captains Phil Tuffnell and Matt Dawson were also shown the door.
Barker later admitted she had regrets about how her departure from the show was handled, suggesting the corporation had wanted her to say she was stepping back by her own choice rather than being subject to a show "refresh".
"It is such a shame because, I have to say, that the BBC had told us we were going," she told BBC Breakfast. "They wanted to refresh the programme and that is absolutely fine. Everyone has the right to do that. We don't own the programme.
"I had had 24 amazing years working with the most incredible people. So we knew it was going to happen and it was just the way in which it happened and the way it was handled, and the way the BBC sort of wanted me to say that I was walking away from it.
"And yet, I would never walk away from a job I love. I don't mind being replaced. Absolutely fine. That happens. But it was just the way it was handled.
"I think we regret the way it was handled. I think if we look back on it we could have handled it better. I think the BBC could have handled it better.
"It is just such a shame because I loved it. And I don't look back on it badly just because of a couple of bad days and then some negative publicity, which I think affected quite a lot of people."
She later told Hay Festival more of the details, with separate meetings being held to break the news to the anchor and team captains.
"I got up to leave and [management] says 'no, can you leave by that door? I don't want you to see the boys'. I was like 'are you serious?' It felt like a detention at school. I can't leave by the front door, I'm going out the back door. Out come the boys. Matt was really quite concerned. Tuffers in true Tuffers fashion thought he was getting a pay rise, so he went in extremely happy and then the next minute he was in floods of tears. He's very emotional."
Who is Sue Barker's husband?
The tennis legend married landscape gardener and former policeman Lance Tankard in 1988.
She had previously been engaged to Australian tennis player Syd Ball, but broke that off in 1978, and also dated Cliff Richard.
A Royal matchmaker
Barker co-presented coverage of Prince Edward's wedding to Sophie Rhys-Jones, now the Duchess of Edinburgh, in June 1999 in Windsor. It is reported that Barker actually introduced the couple at a charity function a few years earlier.
