With the inability of the Americans to play on grass or clay courts...?

Question

is it time for the United States to start to incorporate those court surfaces for use on public facilities? American tennis just pure and simply have no diversity in their games and cannot adapt to different court surfaces like the Europeans.

by the way...i'm a tennis historian. so i know quite well about the Sampras', McEnroes, etc. that have come out of the USA.

Answer 1

actually americans only cant play on clay..they are quiet succsessful on grass though...american women more than men though...(venus, serena)

Answer 2

I agree with you that Americans should build these types of courts in the states because it probably would encourage Americans to practice on them more and will lead to better results. For this crop of American players (Roddick, Blake,  Fish, etc.), though, it might not help all that much though, seeing as the off-season is so short and most players play on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I do think, however, it would benefit younger players who aspire to turn professional.

Answer 3

Good Question. I think you´re right

Answer 4

You know, I have always wondered why the Americans don't have these surfaces in USA being that they are a hugely competative nation??

EDIT: Geez, you people are harsh with your thumbs down!! I didn't realise that Americans had no interst in tennis, being that so many of the games greats are from there (SAmpras, McEnroe, Agassi). The things you learn....

Answer 5

most public facilities can't wash their hard courts much less keep them mended and in good repair. do you really think they have the time and resources to maintain clay and grass courts?

it's a matter of economics (not history). Americans, largely, don't care about tennis or funding it. Also, America has a low tax rate, too, when compared with european countries. the euro-tax money goes into maintaining sports facilities and promoting the arts. such comprehensive programs do not exist in the USA.

to recap: 1- tennis is not important to most Americans and 2- we don't pump a lot of public money into maintaining sports we don't care about.

GRASS

Grass court tennis is a boutique-like sport. There are very few grass courts world-wide. Britain probably has the most and how many Britsh players do you see winning Wimbledon, year in and year out?

The "grass season" consists of Wimbledon and a couple of other tournaments in June. Hardly a blip on the radar that is professional tennis.  But Americans have done very well on this surface in the past. I would fathom to say that Americans have won the event more than any other country.

I would love to play on grass regularly, but JUST WHO is going to maintain such tennis courts? grass courts are WILDLY EXPENSIVE to keep in repair. they are not practical. my own private club has two grass courts and I've played on them once. they are largely for show. to keep them in playable condition requires expertise, and resources barely available to a ritzy, private club.

CLAY is a surface relegated to Flordia and the rest of the world. Again, this surface is labor intensive and more expensive to maintain than hard courts. The clay court circuit is dominated by europeans (and some south american countries). Period. Agassi won the french once. McEnroe choked in the finals, once. That's quite impressive when you look at what they were up against and where they both came from.

so to all of you touting grass and clay courts: 1- take a reality check and 2- why not concentrate on generating some American talent that can win at the US Open, Australian Open, all the rest of the hard court and indoor events around the world, and bring home a Davis Cup? What about that?

Answer 6

Usually the Americans play much better on grass than they've shown at Wimbledon this year, but perhaps the USTA should try your suggestion.  In fact, they should build courts that are identical to those of all the grand slam surfaces, and make them accessible to the top junior players.  They can build them at the Evert Academy in Florida, which is where they have the USTA junior development headquarters.  Back in the 1970's and 80's there were a lot more clay courts (albeit green clay) in Florida, but now they're all hard courts. I don't know why there was such a trend towards less diversity, but it obviously is the reason why Americans play so badly on clay.

Answer 7

why not also initiate public tournaments on those courts? so that kids can start knowing different types of court surfaces. i'm thinking of a "streetball" -like tennis tournaments. just my thoughts :)