The stats are downright shocking: eight top-10 seeds from both the women’s and men’s Wimbledon 2025 brackets were upset in the first couple of days of the Grand Slam tournament at the All England Club.
So: what gives? What happened to all these top names, from Coco Gauff to Jessica Pegula to Alexander Zverv?
There’s probably no right answer. There are a number of factors — including, perhaps, that it’s a coincidence, right? — that you could throw out there to explain the phenomenon. But there are plenty of theories being thrown out there.
We’ve rounded all of them up in one place as the tournament continues:
The switch to the grass of Wimbledon is jarring
Gauff had this to say, per NBC News:
“I would say the quick turnaround,” Gauff said after her first-round exit. “I think most of the seeds are going deeper in Roland Garros, and then you spend a long clay season and then you have to come and adjust to grass.”
And then former American star Andy Roddick said this:
“This is what happens when you actually play tournaments outside of the monosurface, where it’s all kind of the same,” Roddick said. “You allow different styles in. … This is what we get. We don’t get a six-week lead-in where we’re getting a data set from [tournaments in] Monte Carlo through Geneva that matter in predictions and knowing what’s going on.
Because of the way the ball moves on grass, it’s a harder adjustment.
It’s too soon after the French Open
See above for the “quick turnaround” line. Like she said: if you went deep at the French Open, there’s a fatigue factor, too.
“Upsets are contagious”
That’s what Brad Gilbert said, via ESPN:
“Upsets are contagious,” Brad Gilbert, former player and current coach, said on the broadcast on Tuesday. “If you’re seeded, be wary before you leave that locker room.”
Maybe what he’s trying to say: if you’re a top seed and you’re seeing other top seeds go home, it can get in your head. Just check out what Madison Keys said via The Times:
The same message came from Madison Keys on Wednesday, who said that she had herself only just “dodged a bullet” in her first-round match. “When you are sitting and watching everyone kind of fall, it kind of adds a little bit of stress to the situation,” she said.