Shortly before her opening match at Wimbledon last week, the Spanish player Garbine Muguruza sent a joking text to her compatriot Conchita Martinez, who won the tournament in 1994.
“We were laughing... because I was like, ‘Conchita, I’m not sure about grass.’” The 21-year-old had not got beyond the second round in her two previous visits to the All England Club, and her preparation for the tournament this year had involved two early exits in Birmingham and Eastbourne.
She has never liked playing on grass – the bounce of the ball is “weird”, she has said – and it didn’t look like the surface was going to be any more friendly this season.