Wimbledon: Centre Court’s been slippery when wet, even with roof closed
Serena Williams injured her right leg when her left shoe lost traction behind the baseline in almost the exact same spot Adrian Mannarino went down.
Wimbledon: Novak Djokovic landed on his backside twice early in the first match and also in the second match played on Centre Court at Wimbledon this week. He was no worse for the wear.
Roger Federer’s opponent on Day 2, Adrian Mannarino, lost his footing in the main stadium, too, but he was not so lucky: The Frenchman’s 33rd birthday ended with a twisted knee and a loss, because he was too hurt to keep playing.
That also happened to Serena Williams in the very next match Tuesday, and her latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title ended with her “heartbroken” and in tears after just 30 minutes and less than a set.
She injured her right leg when her left shoe lost traction behind the baseline in almost the exact same spot Mannarino went down.
All of those contests were played with the arena’s retractable roof shut because of rain. And that — rather any sort of change to the grass itself as the oldest Grand Slam tournament returns after being canceled a year ago, early in the pandemic — is what the All England Club blames for how slippery the surface has been during what it says were the wettest two opening days of Wimbledon “in almost a decade.”
Keeping the roof closed for a long period leads to “additional moisture” on the grass, the club said in a statement released after Williams and Mannarino got hurt and exited the singles brackets.
“It feels a tad more slippery, maybe, under the roof. I don’t know if it’s just a gut feeling. You do have to move very, very carefully out there. If you push too hard in the wrong moments, you do go down,” said Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon champion.
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