LONDON (AP) 鈥 There's no single explanation, of course, for all of the injuries to players in the latter stages at Wimbledon this year. This much is certain: The timing could hardly be worse.
The man Novak Djokovic was supposed to face on Wednesday, Alex de Minaur, because he jarred his hip at the end of a victory two days earlier.
鈥淚'm devastated,鈥 de Minaur said. 鈥淭he problem with me going out and playing is that one stretch, one slide, one anything, can make this injury (recovery) go from three to six weeks to four months. It鈥檚 too much to risk.鈥
fourth-round opponent, Alexander Zverev, slipped on an unworn patch of green grass in his previous match. That caused a bone bruise 鈥 and maybe worse 鈥 that Zverev complained left him on 鈥渙ne leg鈥 in his loss to the American at what the two-time major finalist characterized as a wide open opportunity to grab a first Grand Slam title.
Danielle Collins' last Wimbledon appearance before retirement ended with tape wrapped around her hamstring, the work of a trainer during the American鈥檚 fourth-round loss to 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova. Collins chalked it up to failing to 鈥渢hink about every little step that you take.鈥
鈥淭here's been a ton of injuries on the grass. Left and right, it seems like people are going down. I am, I guess, frustrated that I feel like I was focusing on my tactics and kind of what I needed to do to play at a high level. Usually, I feel like, on other surfaces you鈥檙e not having to think so critically about your movement,鈥 Collins said. 鈥淭he one second I take my mind off of it, not think about every little thing I鈥檓 doing with my footwork, it ends up happening.鈥
The falls keep happening. The injuries are adding up.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate, obviously,鈥 de Minaur said. 鈥淵ou never want to see this.鈥
He called his mishap 鈥渕ore of a freak injury,鈥 related to the 鈥渆xcessive amount of force鈥 used to slide on grass.
Madison Keys, the 2017 U.S. Open runner-up, was in tears when she stopped because of a hurt leg at 5-all in the third set of a Week 2 match against Jasmine Paolini, who reached Thursday's semifinals.
, who won the U.S. Open three years ago, withdrew from mixed doubles 鈥 which was supposed to be 鈥 because of a sore wrist, then needed a medical timeout later that day after falling in the third set of a singles loss.
No. 17 Anna Kalinskaya cited a bad wrist when she quit in her fourth-round match against 2022 champion Elena Rybakina. No. 10 retired from his fourth-round match against Daniil Medvedev with a leg problem.
鈥淚t鈥檚 normal for the second week at Wimbledon to be feeling niggling things on your muscles, because it鈥檚 tough 鈥 the grass, getting down low, coming into the net. It's more on the muscles than the joints on the grass," 2003 Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis said. "So I鈥檓 sure lots of people will be feeling it now with little things here and there.鈥
Count Djokovic among those who think part of the issue is that all of the rain during the tournament 鈥 so much that the mixed doubles final was shifted from Thursday to Sunday, and play began a half-hour earlier than usual on most courts Wednesday 鈥 has made the grass more slick and the footing less sure.
So has shutting the retractable roofs at Centre Court and No. 1 Court, the only two arenas with that luxury during wet weather.
鈥淥nce you close the roof, you know that the grass is going to be more slippery. So there鈥檚 more chances that players will fall. Unfortunately, some of the falls have caused some of the players to withdraw,鈥 Djokovic said.
鈥淚t's part of this surface. You can鈥檛 really change that," added the seven-time champion at the All England Club. "I mean, it鈥檚 grass. It鈥檚 a live surface, and it reacts to different conditions.鈥
The pattern began at grass tourneys that preceded Wimbledon.
Marketa Vondrousova retired from a match in Berlin after hurting her right leg there. When she showed up at Wimbledon, she became the to lose in the first round and acknowledged: "I was a bit scared because of my leg.鈥
The woman who beat her last week, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, stopped at Wimbledon because of a back issue in the third round against Krejcikova.
pulled out of the Queen's Club tournament before Wimbledon after spraining a ligament in his right knee when he took a tumble. Tiafoe played at the All England Club with a black sleeve over his knee and made it to the third round before losing to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
during a match at the French Open, had surgery and returned to competition less than a month later. Ironically, he thinks it's possible that might have helped him stay upright this fortnight.
That's because, years ago, Djokovic was one of the first players to regularly slide on grass the way they do on clay. He has cut down on those movements this time at Wimbledon, being extra careful to avoid risking falls.
鈥淚t鈥檚 probably part of my, I guess, different kind of movement on the court that I鈥檝e been really experimenting with because of the cautiousness 鈥 because of the knee and everything that was happening prior to the tournament,鈥 Djokovic explained. 鈥淭he first couple rounds, I was still not maybe willing to go (for difficult) balls and slide and make splits.鈥
Other theories include: More and more baseline play on grass, and less serving-and-volleying, creates longer points and extra running, which translate into a greater likelihood of slips; less comfort on grass because players tend to grow up practicing and competing on clay or hard courts; and a brief grass portion of the schedule that doesn't allow for accumulating a lot of experience on the turf.
Then there's the general wear-and-tear of a season.
鈥淟isten, tennis is a very physical sport at the moment. For sure, the rallies are longer. Matches. Scheduling. Finishing late,鈥 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very demanding on the body. ... A lot of things are changing that (contribute) to players getting injured.鈥
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