Grass courts still significant in the game of tennis
Roger Federer about a week prior to his departure from the Wimbledon edition 2010 was sure that the grass at the tennis courts of All England Club no more matched its original repute for pace.
Regardless of his spotless arrival at the centre court on the very first day of the tournament, Federer commented on the grass courts at the All England Club by saying that “they are not the quickest one’s now”.
However, the senior groundskeeper Eddie Seaward, views it in a dissimilar manner.
According to him, “ the ball at the grass court even today runs with the same pace but I believe it comes somewhat more altitudinous”, he said. As a result, the players now experience greater recoil.
What is the disparity? Just about a twelfth of a second, Eddie commented.
This might appear irrelevant to the tennis lovers as well as average players. However, as far as the top ranked players are concerned, it does matter a lot to them. According to them, the ground seeded with a drain of perennial Eurasian grass that permits the sun light to dehydrate the grass more intensely has altered the pace of the game.
The outcome, Seward measured is that it takes an eleventh of a second lengthier as compared to the past twenty years for the tennis ball to sail from the Stefan Edberg’s corner to the Boris Becker’s side of the grass court. That would have provided Tomas Berdych a crack second grater time to analyse Federer’s serves. Federer on the other hand enjoys the similar advantage, obviously, on Berdych’s serve.
In this manner, the hardly distinguishable prolonging of points over the last couple of years may have supported in securing the excretion of grass court championships from the international tennis world, a possibility that lingered back in 1990s.
The discussion during that time pretty much focused on the fact that “ the grass court game of tennis is over now” as it was all tough, bash, clank, encroachment and all the remaining of it”, Seaward said.
The trainers talked over the issue back in 1990s at the All England Club and suggested that the ground should be modified to entertain the changed fashion of game.
Lovers of the old school may conflict but Seaward maintained that it has actually proved fruitful for the sports. Indeed, it has supported in securing the short grass court period that starts right after the French Open tournament and concludes at the opening of the US Open tough clay court period that follows’ Wimbledon’s conclusion on grass court at the All England Club.
“Today we are getting lengthier counter attacks, getting diverse players succeeding in the court tournaments, getting dissimilar contesters making their ways which is a healthy sign for the sports itself”, as added by Seaward.
Clay court experts, who once snubbed the grass court Grand Slam tournament, have been grabbed back.
The present preferred grasses at the All England Club, known as Jessica and Pontiac according to Seaward endures longer and recuperates faster from the drubbing to which Roger Federer and others issues it.
Moreover the soil itself covers no shabby recoil where the white tennis ball might run down to one corner or leap low across the ground.
Roger Federer along with Novak Djokovic as well as Andy Murray also admitted this point.
“There is no poor recoil, said the tennis master”, Roger Federer. “One can simply stay at the baseline without worrying when the opponent comes in”.
“These courts are extremely compact”, said the Brit tennis ace, Andy Murray after knocking down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as well as supported Federer’s point of not experiencing too much of recoil on the court.
Some of the grasses on the tennis courts of Wimbledon at the All England Club do not have names while others have proper names as well as code numbers.
Nevertheless, there is no doubt about the fact that the grass courts have their own significance even in the modern day tennis.
Tags: