Marc Rosset criticizes Wimbledon surface speed

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Marc Rosset criticizes Wimbledon surface speed

In a column for Le Temps, the former world No. 9 Marc Rosset commented on the Wimbledon speed surface. The Swiss said: "Coming here, I was surprised by learning the grass was slower than the previous year. They took the beauty of Wimbledon away.

I loved it. But organizers went too far in slowing the surface. When we saw that Federer's slice backhand stayed slow and Berrettini could not hit, we thought it was not normal. For me, Wimbledon is Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Boris Becker.

Now we have Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinals. I have nothing against him, but he got his best clay results in the French Open, that's surprising. It's also a bit disappointing because coming here after the French Open, I was looking forward to seeing other players making upsets like Tsitsipas, Zverev, Isner, Anderson.

Instead, we end up with Kukushkin, Pella, Sousa, who are not able to beat Nadal or Federer. Three years ago, Pella lost in a straight-set first round against a Federer who would take a six-month break the following week. What's the essence of Wimbledon? White outfits, lack of sponsors, special seeding formula, tie-break on 12-all, ok very well but keep the essence. I like the change but the surface should have been the same."