In the women’s draw, French Open champion Coco Gauff and world No.3 Jessica Pegula were among the early fallers, while No.3 seed Alexander Zverev and British hope Jack Draper were ousted in the opening rounds of the men’s draw.

The succession of highly-ranked players being slayed by underdogs sparked a debate over the balance of power in the game, yet we should no longer be surprised when an ‘upset’ is recorded.

After two decades when the sport was dominated by a handful of dominant champions such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, we now expect those following in their footsteps to show a similar level of consistency.

Yet the brilliance shown by those great icons of tennis for so long was not normal by any sporting gauge and in the opinion of world No.3 Zverev, the standards of excellence in the men’s game have changed during his time at the top as the strength in depth has expanded rapidly in the last five years.

“Tennis has changed in my time in the game and it will change and evolve again,” Zverev told All Court Tennis Club at the launch of the Adidas London Originals collection.

“It won’t just be Carlos (Alcaraz) and Jannik (Sinner) winning titles, but more champions will come through as well.

“The big difference now is the depth at the top. We have champions all the way down to No.30 in the rankings and that wasn’t the case when I started.

“The top five in the world would not have really looked out for the guy who was No.25 and think he would be a problem when I started, but this is not the case any more.

“Clearly, Carlos and Jannik are ahead of everyone at the top now, but the depth we have in the men’s game is different compared to when Roger, Rafa and Novak were dominating.

“So many good players are fighting to get to the top and it means a third or fourth round match is now a much bigger challenge than it might have been a few years ago.”

Zverev’s comments are echoed by respected coach Patrick Mouratoglou, with the former coach of Serena Williams and the current coach of four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka suggesting the word ‘surprise’ needs to be removed from the discussion when a leading seed is beaten by an inspired opponent.

He suggests this is especially relevant at Wimbledon, where players get just a couple of weeks to practice on grass courts after an extended period playing around Europe on clay courts that require a very different skillset.

“Let’s ban the word ‘surprise’ from our Wimbledon vocabulary. “You can’t call something a surprise if it happens every single year,” declared Mourtoglou in a post on LinkedIn.

“23 seeded players, 13 men and 10 women, including 8 top-10s, are out in the 2025 first round. Zverev, Gauff, Rune, Medvedev, Pegula, Tsitsipas… gone. It sounds unreal. But at Wimbledon, it happens every single year.

“Wimbledon is unique, and the transition from clay to grass is brutal. There are only three weeks between Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. That’s not enough time for the top players to perform well.

“Clay and grass are polar opposites. On clay, we have high bounce, long rallies, sliding, baseline endurance. On grass we have low bounce, explosive movement, serve & return, short points.

“Players have no time to adapt. Roland-Garros ends, and just three weeks later, you’re expected to perform at peak level on a surface you only see 2-3 weeks a year.

“Top players are exhausted. They go deep at Roland-Garros. Then they rest. Then they get only a few days of grass prep and boom, it’s Wimbledon.

“And let’s be clear: mastering grass takes time. But no one has the time. That’s the real problem.”

Mouratoglou is right to highlight the challenge facing the game’s top players as they scramble to get enough time on grass to ensure they are ready for Wimbledon, with the obvious solution being extending the period between the end of the French Open and the start of the Championships at the All England Club.

That could involve moving Wimbledon to the final two weeks in July, but that would then have a big impact on the North American hard-court swing, which gets underway in earnest at the start of August.

Shortening a lengthy clay court season that runs for two and a half months is another option, but the tennis schedule is long-established and so many vested interests do their best to ensure their events are protected as they are resistant to change.

So don’t be surprised if the Wimbledon shocks of 2025 become the norm as tennis grapples with a schedule that is not conducive to enhancing its most prestigious event.