Early upsets may stem from lack of experience on grass

Successful as Novak Djokovic has been on the grass courts of Wimbledon — he’s won 100 matches and seven of his 24 Grand Slam trophies there — it's not as if he grew up plying his talents on the surface.Indeed, he never competed or even practiced on it at all until 2005, when he entered the qualifying event held at the nearby Roehampton facility and won three matches there to earn the right to make his debut at the All England Club at age 18.

- Agencies

“That was actually the first year I stepped out on the grass,” said Djokovic, who will play 11th-seeded Alex de Minaur on Monday for a quarterfinal berth at the Grand Slam tournament. “I must say that it felt very natural for me to adapt to it, even though I grew up on clay.” There will be a 9th different women’s champion in the last 9 Wimbledons That's a common refrain among today’s pros, and the lack of familiarity with, and comfort on, grass could be one of the reasons for all of the upsets in the early going at Wimbledon. The eight total top-10 seeds—four women, four men—who lost in the first round were the most at any major since they began seeding 32 in brackets in 2001.

“Grass,” 2022 champion Elena Rybakina said after her third-round exit Saturday, “is very unpredictable.” With her departure, and defending champ Barbora Krejcikova's loss to Emma Navarro a few hours later, there is guaranteed to be yet another first-time women’s title winner this year at the All England Club. Whoever takes home the trophy on July 12 will be the ninth woman to do so in the event's past nine editions.