Players Keep Falling, Wimbledon Officials Say Grass Is Fine

World number one tennis player Andy Murray has added his voice to the list of players who have criticized the condition of the playing surface at the All-England Club.

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The quality of the grass at Wimbledon has been receiving usual criticism since the beginning of the tournament, with the slipperiness of the surface being the recurring theme.

The uncharacteristically hot weather before the start of the major paired with the unusually dry conditions throughout the first week is believed to be at the root of the problem.

Murray commented that the Centre Court is not in as good a condition as it was in previous years; he has even described seeing divots.

Wimbledon official Neil Stubley has downplayed any problem concerning the courts: “We looked at the baselines and the areas that they thought there was an issue,” he said. “We didn’t feel there was. The Grand Slam supervisor and the assistant referee didn’t believe that there was either. When you look at the comparisons of other courts within The Championships, they were in or around the same condition as the other courts.”

But, number 16-ranked Gilles Müller disagrees, saying he had never seen the surface in such poor condition.

“I practiced last week on court 18 and I thought: ‘Oh, the grass doesn’t look so good on this court, it’s not in the best shape.’ Maybe it was the warm weather the week before, I don’t know. I felt that the court was not in great shape bounce wise. I didn’t feel it was dangerous [but] I felt it was very soft and slow. Warming up at Aorangi [Park, the main practice courts], where courts are pretty fast, then playing on Court 18, there was a huge difference.”

Officials continue to dismiss concerns, categorically stating that the courts are in the same condition they've alway been in.

Brit Laura Robson also voiced her displeasure, shouting “it’s so soft” during her first-round match; while Kristina Mladenovic said she was thankful to not have been seriously injured in her second round loss to Alison Riske, who claimed that the dirt “is like ice.”

A hole was reportedly observed on the side of the court 18, which was said to have been caused by American Ryan Harrison during a practice session.

Andy's brother, Jamie Murray, who lost his men’s doubles match on Friday, commented that “The courts this year were different in the way that you could see where people put their foot in, it was almost like the turf had come up.”

“I’ve been playing here a lot of years and I’ve never seen the courts that – I wouldn’t say bad, but they weren’t good. I don’t know why they were reacting like that to the players’ movements.”

As The Championships approaches week two, the usual suspects and tournament favorites are largely still in the competition, with the women's draw slightly more open, with the absence of 23-time Slam champion Serena Williams.

Round of 16 matchups

Men

Andy Murray vs Benoit Paire

Sam Querrey vs Kevin Anderson

Rafael Nadal vs Giles Mueller

Roberto Bautista Agut vs Marin Cilic

Milos Raonic vs Alexander Zverev

Gigor Dimotrov vs Roger Federer

Dominic Thiem vs Tomas Berdych

Adrian Mannarino vs Novak Djokovic

Women

Angelique Kerber vs Garbine Muguruza

Agnieszka Radwanska vs Svetlana Kuznetsova

Magdalena Rybarikova vs Petra Martic

Coco Vandeweghe vs Caroline Wozniacki

Ana Konjuh vs Venus Williams

Jelena Ostapenko vs Elina Svitolina

Johanna Konta vs Caroline Garcia

Victoria Azarenka vs Simona Halep