Tennis enthusiasts were left disgruntled after the BBC abruptly switched from an enthralling Olympic tennis final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

The top two seeds clashed in the final at Roland Garros, with Djokovic seeking to make amends for his consecutive Wimbledon final losses to Alcaraz. However, those trying to follow the match on the Beeb were left exasperated.

Audiences initially had to tune in via the red button, before transitioning to BBC One. But after Djokovic clinched the first set in a tie-break, coverage was abruptly halted as the BBC switched to gymnastics.

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The BBC’s broadcasting hours for the Paris Olympic Games are restricted, with Discovery being the primary broadcaster. Despite these constraints, many were swift to express their dissatisfaction.

“One of the all time great sets and the BBC now isn’t broadcasting the second between Alcaraz and Djokovic,” one disgruntled fan posted on social media. “I know there’s loads going on but it’s just not good enough when it’s such a historic final.”, reports the Mirror.

“@BBC your Olympics coverage is the worst I have ever known,” penned another. “Only 1 choice live, no way to search for the sport you want. tennis final not on… Shocking… Have almost ruined my Olympics, but for your excellent commentators.”

“This BBC coverage of the Olympics is so poor,” chimed in a third. “I shouldn’t have to change the channel 3 times trying to watch the Tennis gold medal final only for coverage on it to completely stop.”

The BBC’s handling of Olympic tennis has previously drawn criticism, particularly when Andy Murray’s final professional matches in men’s doubles at Roland Garros were shuffled between main channels and the red button service.

Due to UK legislation safeguarding certain sporting events for free-to-air coverage, the BBC is able to broadcast the Olympics. Despite Warner Bros Discovery owning European broadcasting rights after a deal exceeding £1 billion, the BBC negotiated terms to air a select portion of the Games.

“The BBC will have a network TV channel and a second broadcast stream throughout the Games,” the corporation explained prior to the event. “That means we can show the two most exciting or important events happening at any moment live at the same time. And because of the way the Olympics schedule works, it means there will almost never be a big medal moment or race or tearful interview we can’t bring you.”

In a section titled ‘Why didn’t the BBC just pay more to have everything?’, the broadcaster states: “Quite simply because we take decisions over our spending very seriously as it is licence fee payers’ money that we are using. As much as we’d like to, we can’t buy everything we want.”