Russia’s Maria Sharapova leads attack on ‘dangerous’ Wimbledon courts.

THE WIMBLEDON TENNIS TOURNAMENT, a Grand Slam event in the tennis calendar, is well underway at SW19 and is about to enter its second week.

The first week of the tournament this year saw an extraordinary number of players retired hurt, many of them after taking a tumble. On the first Wednesday alone, seven withdrew – an all-time record for a single day.

Women’s number two seed Victoria Azarenka and former champion Maria Sharapova – both of whom had falls and were defeated – were among many who blamed the grass surface, suggesting it has been unusually slippery.

Are the players right in their assessment, or is it just a case of bad workmen blaming their tools? Here, some possible explanations are offered as to why there have been so many Wimbledon slip-ups in this year’s tournament:

TOO MUCH SUGAR IN THE GRASS

In the late Nineties, the All-England Club replaced its traditional ‘bowling green’ grass strains with harder-wearing ryegrass varieties.

But the new tough surface also helped the ball sit up higher, resulting in more of the gruelling baseline rallies most likely to cause injury.

This year, after a wet winter and late spring, horticulturalists say Britain’s lawns and meadows are at the stage they would usually reach in May when grass is full of sucrose, or sugar. But the club insists its grass is ‘almost identical’ to 2012.

A NEW GROUNDSMAN

Mr Neil Stubley recently became head groundsman and this is the first year he has been in sole charge. Several players have complained about his performance.

Caroline Wozniacki, for example, wondered if the grass was ‘a little longer’ than usual. But tests have shown Wimbledon’s grass to be exactly the same length – 8mm – as usual.

OLYMPIC LEGACY

The Olympic Games were contested on SW19’s hallowed grass in early August last year, dramatically reducing the time available for the club’s 16 full-time groundsmen to tear up one set of show courts and lay down the next.

Neil Stubley’s long-standing predecessor as head groudsman, Eddie Seaward, warned: ‘My successor will have a month’s less time to prepare the grass for the 2013 Championships, and to do the renovation programme.’

FASHIONABLE FOOTWEAR

Former women’s number one Kim Clijsters reportedly said last week that a ‘new rule’ relating to the number of indentures allowed on the soles of players’ shoes is causing mishaps. However, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) responded, rightly, that there has been no such rule-change.

Yet several of this year’s leading contenders have tinkered with their shoes at the behest of sponsors.

Roger Federer, for instance, attempted to use the tournament to launch a new Nike tennis trainer. He was forced to change plans when its orange soles fell foul of the Wimbledon dress code. Two days later, he was out of the tournament.

BEEFING UP WITH AGE

When Boris Becker won Wimbledon in 1985, he was a gangly 17-year-old. When Martina Hingis first lifted a trophy on Centre Court in the mid-Nineties, she was just 15.

Today’s players are a different age, and shape. The great Federer was a stocky 30 when he won Wimbledon last year. The powerful Serena Williams is 31. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are 26, and described bodily as buff. Rafael Nadal is 27, and has a muscular physique with bulging biceps.

Tennis has in recent years been tougher and more physical than at any time in its history. To win, you must be stronger, taller and leaner.

As a result, players are pushed more than ever to their physical limits, and this can trigger injuries – especially among older players.

THE WAY THEY RUN

Andy Murray accused his peers of failing to adjust to the demands of grass courts, where the ball comes at them fast and low, placing pressure on knees and ankles. He said:

‘The way the guys throw their bodies around the court now, they seem to slip down more than they used to… You can’t move like that on a grass court; you need to be very particular with your foot placement.’

Sports scientists agree, saying that the speed and irregularity of the surface means players often hit from an imperfect position, irritating sore joints.

That problem is exasperated by the fact that they play much less on grass than in the past, and have little time to familiarise themselves with the surface. Just a fortnight separates the French Open, which is played on slower, stickier clay, and Wimbledon.

Sport scientists acknowledge, too, that the transition from clay to grass is a flashpoint for injuries. At Wimbledon the ball is coming through lower, and the players have less time to react.

BRITISH SUMMER

Wimbledon would never be Wimbledon without a moan about the weather. Although the 2013 Championships hasn’t suffered any completely rained-off days so far, the weather in SW19 has been peculiarly muggy, with mostly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 20s.

The extra humidity is moistening the surface – when early stage grass tends to be at its least worn and most slippery.