LONDON—Gilles Simon complained that, at some tournaments, players are asked to compete in inadequate conditions. He pointed to his second-round match at the All England Club as an example.
Simon fell to Grigor Dimitrov in four sets, and argued with the umpire about the rainy conditions during the match. Though he said the rain did not affect him, he believed the courts were unfit to play on.
"The day [I] get injured on slippery grass, I'm going to sue everyone in the stadium," insisted Simon, who could be heard telling the umpire that he would sue him if he was injured. "We try to understand what is happening in both parties, like tournaments and players, but [at] one point yesterday it was just ridiculous."
Simon was also angered by the supervisor's response.
"He told me, ‘It's raining, but the water is not going to the ground,” the Frenchman said. “…Like, it's really light rain and it's there, and it stays in the air and it's flying away. So the grass is not wet. And I have to answer that. So in the match you just see me on TV, like I'm pissed. Yes, I'm pissed, because I want to destroy him ... It is just not possible to hear it on the tennis court. That's [the] kind of reason you have."
But the problem was not confined to Wimbledon, he noted.
“It's happening in basically every Slam, so it's not just here," he said. "Here it's always about the grass that is wet. But, for example, in Australia they force us to play when it's 44 degrees and the doctor says, 'Yeah, it's fine, they can go.' I think the tournament just got lucky that nothing really serious [happened] ... The problem is it's always on the tournament side. Always force you to play and you cannot say anything.
"You discuss. You say, 'Come on, the grass is wet.' And then you have the famous water that is not touching the grass [as the] reason [they] force you to play."
He urged players to take a stand, saying that he understood tournament considerations, but player safety has to take precedence.
"[We’re gonna] have more and more discussion about it, because it's not being against the tournament,” he said. “Like we really understand when it's a terrible day for the tournament, and there is no showing for the public and for everyone. They stay long and they want to see the match. But in one point it's just not possible."
His opponent, however, did not share Simon's sentiments.
"I mean, everyone has their own way," Dimitrov said. "I understand his frustration. But, you know, it's whatever. It's [the same] for him [as it is] for me ... We had the umpire coming down, the supervisor, so all these guys are taking unbelievable care of us—to protect us and to take the right decisions and all that. I know when there is a little mist in the air, the grass is a little slippery. Yeah, we all know that.
"... And you just try not to push too much, so you don't want to slide. You have to be a bit more cautious."
Andy Murray agreed with Simon that player complaints about the state of the surface should be listened to by officials. The world No. 2 played in wet conditions in the Rome final against Novak Djokovic, who also complained to officials about the court being slippery.
"What you don't want to have happen is for a player to really hurt themselves,” Murray said. “If players are saying it's too wet, the court is a little bit too slippery, then someone really hurts themselves—that's when it's really, really tough on the player, because who is going to take responsibility for that? On a grass court, when it's raining, it becomes dangerous very quickly."
The tournament has experienced rain interruptions on three consecutive days, with more anticipated for the remainder of the Slam.