After a raft of withdrawals, some players have criticised the Wimbledon playing surfaces at this years Championships. Last Tuesday, seven players withdrew from the tournament - for a variety of injury related resasons.

However, leading women players placed the blame for their defeat on the state of the court. Maria Sharapova fell to a surprise defeat against Michelle Larcher de Brito, with lip readers picking up her saying "This court is dangerous", a quote she did not later deny. It was a sentiment  echoed by  seeds Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniaki after their defeats.

With focus on the grass, IOG chief executive Geoff Webb was all over the TV and radio yesterday defending the groundstaff and the praparation regime ahead of the Championships

He said  “The highly-professional and experienced All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) grounds management team works year-round preparing the world-renowned Wimbledon grass courts with the Championships very much in mind - as the annual showcase of playing surfaces that represent the ultimate in top-class playability as well as appearance.

 “The considerable expertise of the AELTC grounds management team is underpinned by a multi-million pound turf care industry where companies spend many years developing high-performance turf grass seed specifically for sport. Alongside this, the very best in turf care machinery and equipment is also on hand to ensure that by the time the tournament starts the courts are in the very best condition possible.

 “Independent scientific testing on the courts is regularly carried out and the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) is in no doubt that this year’s playing surfaces at Wimbledon are of the same usual high standards, as evident at last year’s Olympics and 2012 Championships”

However, none of the senior players in the Mens tournament saw anything wrong with the state of the courts. Neither Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer nor Any Murray made any comment abut the surface - and former great such as Boris Becker and John McEnroe sprang to the defence of the Wimbledon grounds team headed by Neil Stubley who was inteviewed at length by BBC Sport