Slovakian ace serves up a weird new craze in SW19 ‘WE LOVE THE SMELL OF BALLS’

WIMBLEDON stars have gone mad for the smell of fresh balls this year as a bizarre craze hits the tournament.

Viewers have spotted players sneaking a sniff before and in between games.

And apparently they can’t get enough of the scent.

The craze was started by world No.9 Dominika Cibulkova after she expressed her love of the fuzzy balls’ odour.

A video showed the Slovakian guessing where different balls came from just by getting a whiff of them.

She was blindfolded and put to the test at last year’s championships, correctly matching each one to the tournament where it was used.

Dominika, 28, said she “loves the smell” in the funny clip which was shared online.

She added: “I know this smell because I smell it all the time.”

And it seems her compulsion has rubbed off on other players, who have also been enjoying the whiff of a freshly unpacked ball.

Some viewers suggested the odd habit could be a good luck charm.

But Dominika, who is now out JESSICA HAWORTH of this year’s Wimbledon after losing to Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh, said it is solely down to the smell.

Fans on Twitter said they understood the obsession, with some praising the “satisfaction” of cracking open a pack.

Maia Wendel wrote: “Smelling a fresh can of tennis balls is something only tennis players truly understand.”

Mia Ray tweeted: “Does smelling a can of freshly opened balls count as an inhalant?”

And Paige Marie added: “Opening a new pack of tennis balls is like smelling heaven in a can.”

But ball sniffing is not the only weird thing to be happening at the championships this year.

Rafael Nadal, 31, was given a false leg to sign in an odd moment caught on camera but said it was not the strangest object he had ever autographed.

The two-time Wimbledon champion was handed the silver prosthetic limb after beating the USA’s Donald Young.

He was given the object by a fan who appeared to have pulled it off as the tennis ace was walking past.