Wimblegeddon

Wild Wimbledon: Wimblegeddon

To say that this year's Wimbledon tournament has been unusual would be an understatement. In fact, it has been absolutely insane how odd it has been. Below I am going to discuss all of the interesting story lines at Wimbledon 2013. I have been following tennis for probably only 8 years now, but I have to admit that this is probably the craziest slam tournament I have watched personally. Last time something crazy has happened was probably the French Open in 2004 when Gaston Gaudio emerged the victor.

First thing is first, there is not a sufficient amount of time between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. There is only a 3 week span between the conclusion of the French Open and the beginning of Wimbledon's fortnight. Now if they were both the same surface, then it would not be a huge problem, but going from clay to grass is big. This year many players were having troubles staying on their feet at Wimbledon and were slipping all over the place. The following is a list of casualties Wimblegeddon claimed in just the first few days of the tournament:

Victoria Azarenka: Withdrawn with a knee injury prior to 2nd round match against Flavia Pennetta

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Retired in his match against Ernests Gulbis

Maria Sharapova: Slipped countless times in her match and was defeated by Michelle Larcher de Brito

Caroline Wozniacki: Slipped all over the place and lost her match to Petra Cetkovska

Steve Darcis: Withdrawn with a shoulder injury prior to his 2nd round match against Lukasz Kubot (After straight setting Rafael Nadal in the opening round)

John Isner: Retired with a knee injury after 2 games against Adrian Mannarino in the 2nd round

Radek Stepanek: Retired with a thigh injury in his 2nd round match against Jerzy Janowicz

Phillip Kohlschreiber: Retired in the 5th set against Ivan Dodig due to fatigue

Marin Cilic: Withdrew with a left knee injury prior to his 2nd round match with Kenny de Schepper

This all happened within the first few days of the tournament. While this may be disappointing to fans, it sure supplies a different perspective to the fellow players throughout the draw. Many players who were not favored in their matches are watching powerhouse players drop like flies. This will most definitely boost the confidence of the lower ranked players and give them belief in that they can make a run in this year's tournament.

Now, the tournament director and maintenance crew say that they prepared the courts the same way they have done for years. Can the players really blame that the traction on grass is more poor this year? Or perhaps the lack of higher ranked players playing a warm-up tournament has contributed to this result. I for one think that the players need to quit playing clay court tennis on a grass court, because obviously taking large leaps and attempting to slide on grass is causing many players problems staying upright. Nevertheless, this has been one wild Wimbledon and it hasn't even finished yet!