It’s a Wimbledon anomaly! World No 4 and home hope Jack Draper is just one of a number of big-name casualties to fall at the All England Club as seeds continue to tumble this year, but why is that the case?
Is it just a one-off or will we continue to see higher-ranked players fall at a Grand Slam which has already seen some shock results – 37 have been against seeded players.
World No 3 Alexander Zverev lost his first round, as did last year’s semi-finalist and seventh seed Lorenzo Musetti and former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev, while British No 1 Draper made a shock exit to 2017 finalist Marin Cilic on Thursday.
In the women’s draw, it has been just as brutal with French Open champion Coco Gauff, Bad Homburg champion Jessica Pegula, and last year’s finalist Jasmine Paolini – the second, third, and fourth seeds, respectively – all knocked out.
Sixth seed Madison Keys was the latest big-name player to bow out to Laura Siegemund in the third round on Friday afternoon.
Could it be the incredibly hot conditions, the balls, the short grass-court season or player burnout? Sky Sports’ commentor Jonathan Overend has called the situation “extraordinary”.
He said: “Before Draper went out it was world No 23 Tomas Machac losing, going out of the men’s and world No 28 Sofia Kenin going out of the women’s. That was the moment when it moved onto 32 seeds going out across men’s and women’s.
“That was precisely half the draw still with a couple of hours remaining in the second round. That is amazing and the statistics show it to be.”
Why are so many good players are unseeded?
Marin Cilic celebrates his stunning victory against Jack Draper
Croatian big-hitter Cilic is a former Grand Slam champion and has a penchant for grass but he played his best match in years to upset Draper. Then you have our own Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter who upset 12th seed Frances Tiafoe and ninth seed Paula Badosa, respectively.
Sonay Kartal is another Brit who has outperformed her opponents, knocking out 20th Jelena Ostapenko en route to the fourth round.
“There are so many reasons that may have contributed to that without any definitive reason,” explained Overend. “The hot weather, the different conditions players had to face, especially in the first round over Monday and Tuesday but quite frankly the vast majority of players are used to hitting in those temperatures.
“The heat would have dried out the court surface a bit which might have slowed things down a little.
“Players are always talking about the balls, while the quick transition from the French Open – well that’s nothing new. In fact it’s better now than it used to be!
“Those who may have only started following tennis in the last decade may not remember when it was straight from Roland-Garros to Queen’s Club and it was only two weeks’ preparation for Wimbledon – now it’s three weeks.
“There’s been so much talk over the last couple of days about why so many seeds have been knocked out of Wimbledon, well I’d like to flip that conversation and ask why so many good players are unseeded? Because that for me is the main reason why we have lost so many of the big names.
“There are so many good players further down the rankings, outside the top 32, so we can scratch around for so many excuses on behalf of the top seeds, but in reality they’ve been beaten by very, very good players who have been rising to the occasion.”
Dangerous floaters
Dayana Yastremska (right) stunned two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff
Dayana Yastremska and Jan-Lennard Struff are two players who have technical ability and can beat the very best on their day and Overend feels rankings are rewarded for consistency on the ATP and WTA Tours.
He said: “You look at world No 42 Dayana Yastremska, who beat Gauff. I watched world No 125 Jan-Lennard Struff beat Felix Auger Aliassime and I know Auger Aliassime isn’t one of the top seeds but in Yastremska and Struff you’ve got two players there, who on their day can absolutely take out seeds. They’re really dangerous players and they’re certainly not alone.
“In terms of overall quality, you’re talking pretty fine margins in the levels of actual technical ability between these players.
“Rankings ultimately reward good performance but they mainly reward consistency because they’re a 12-month rolling ranking system. You add up points from a stack of tournaments.”
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