Wimbledon forced to defend “dangerous” courts

Wimbledon have released a statement after numerous players have complained about the grass courts by saying the following:

AELTC STATEMENT ON CONDITION OF COURTS

The preparation of the grass courts has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years. Each grass court is checked by the Grand Slam Supervisors, Referee's Office and Grounds team ahead of play commencing, and on both days of the Fortnight they have been happy with the conditions and cleared the courts for play.

The weather conditions on the opening two days have been the wettest we have experienced in almost a decade, which has required the roof to be closed on Centre Court and No.1 Court for long periods. This is at a time when the grass plant is at its most lush and green, which does result in additional moisture on what is a natural surface.

With each match that is played, the courts will continue to firm up.

The Grounds team and Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) take hardness readings every morning in order to ensure that the courts have the right level of moisture and are playing consistently.

Our long-serving ground staff team have experienced nearly every combination of weather conditions possible. They keep abreast of and utilise the latest grass court technologies, prepare for every weather eventuality and react to the current conditions on a daily basis.

We will continue to monitor these readings and adjust our care plan for the grass appropriately.

Numerous players have injured themselves including Mannarino who slipped and then retired with injury, Serena who slipped and then retired with injury, Kyrgios has slipped but not complained about the dangers other than the courts being slow , Djokovic has slipped numerous times but got back up and Murray in tonight’s match has fell and said it was dangerously slippy.
Federer has defended the AELTC saying the courts are slippery but don’t really play any differently to what they normally do and almost hints that it’s down to poor footwork that players are falling s playe4s are moving around too heavily
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
So players should boycott the final until the grass re-grows? It's quite clear that they had a problem with the grass even from the cautious statement. I quote:

The weather conditions on the opening two days have been the wettest we have experienced in almost a decade, which has required the roof to be closed on Centre Court and No.1 Court for long periods. This is at a time when the grass plant is at its most lush and green, which does result in additional moisture on what is a natural surface.

It's grass.

Don't like it? Don't play.
 
Typical corporate response. Establishment closing ranks.
meticulous :-D :-D :-D
Wimbledon organisers - the courts are fine, now play you peasants
players -
gEkL4no.gif
 

skip1969

G.O.A.T.
Oh my god, so much whining about the slippery courts. As was said in another thread, "Damp grass is slippery." Why is that such a revelation for some of you?

It has rained tons.
The roof has been closed a lot.
It's the beginning of the tournament.

Conclusion: There was added moisture due to this year's rain and the normally slippery first-week courts are a little more slippery. It's not rocket science. It's not a big secret. Everybody knows. The players know before they step out onto the court. Proceed accordingly.

Where was Murray when he slipped and fell today? 10 feet behind the baseline. It was evening. And the roof was closed. Gee, I wonder how that could have happened?
 

skip1969

G.O.A.T.
Wimbledon have released a statement after numerous players have complained about the grass courts by saying the following:

AELTC STATEMENT ON CONDITION OF COURTS

The preparation of the grass courts has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years. Each grass court is checked by the Grand Slam Supervisors, Referee's Office and Grounds team ahead of play commencing, and on both days of the Fortnight they have been happy with the conditions and cleared the courts for play.

The weather conditions on the opening two days have been the wettest we have experienced in almost a decade, which has required the roof to be closed on Centre Court and No.1 Court for long periods. This is at a time when the grass plant is at its most lush and green, which does result in additional moisture on what is a natural surface.

With each match that is played, the courts will continue to firm up.

The Grounds team and Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) take hardness readings every morning in order to ensure that the courts have the right level of moisture and are playing consistently.

Our long-serving ground staff team have experienced nearly every combination of weather conditions possible. They keep abreast of and utilise the latest grass court technologies, prepare for every weather eventuality and react to the current conditions on a daily basis.

We will continue to monitor these readings and adjust our care plan for the grass appropriately.

Numerous players have injured themselves including Mannarino who slipped and then retired with injury, Serena who slipped and then retired with injury, Kyrgios has slipped but not complained about the dangers other than the courts being slow , Djokovic has slipped numerous times but got back up and Murray in tonight’s match has fell and said it was dangerously slippy.
Federer has defended the AELTC saying the courts are slippery but don’t really play any differently to what they normally do and almost hints that it’s down to poor footwork that players are falling s playe4s are moving around too heavily
Why did you put the word dangerous in quotes? I mean, are you quoting yourself?
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
Wimbledon's goal is to make the grass play as well as it can for the whole two weeks.

This may suit baseliners more, but the current style of play means that they have to stop the baseline turning into a quagmire.

If they also changed the grass to slow down the game to discourage servebots, then they are not going to tell us that in so many words.

Wimbledon has spent the past 20 years changing the courts to suit baseline bots with poor grass court technique .. and still they whinge?

Time to draw a line in the grass.

Every court should not play the same and technique should be adapted to suit the conditions, not conditions adapted to suit some limited technique.
 

RaulRamirez

Legend
I know nothing about grass-court maintenance, but when was the last time that (at least two players) had to retire due to injuries caused by slips in the first round?

I'm glad Fed made it through, but if it were him - and not Mannarino - who had to retire due to injury, some posters would be singing different tunes, and this forum would be exploding.

Perhaps, the statement by the AELTC is accurate, but it's also needed damage control.
 

tonylg

Legend
The issue is that almost every player is a hard/clay court specialist and fans think they can take that exact style of play to fresh grass, rather than adapt their movement to suit the surface.

In a few days the conditions will dry out and it'll be back to playing like green hard court. I guess that will make the people who discovered tennis in the past 10 years happy?
 

Johnny505

Semi-Pro
The turf is dug up and resown a few months before the start of the Championship, the seed mix had changed over the years but not so much in the last 3
 

skip1969

G.O.A.T.
In a few days the job site will be safe, but in the meantime get on with it ... that's not exactly current thinking!!!
156 singles matches on both the men's and women's side played on 18 different courts. 2 retirements due to the so-called "dangerous" conditions.

I mean, if if that's worrisome for a player, he/she is more than free to retire before his/her next match. You don't have to be injured. Fed just did it at RG.

No one is forcing you to go out there.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
You can't always play 'the voluntary assumption of risk' card.

156 singles matches on both the men's and women's side played on 18 different courts. 2 retirements due to the so-called "dangerous" conditions.

I mean, if if that's worrisome for a player, he/she is more than free to retire before his/her next match. You don't have to be injured. Fed just did it at RG.

No one is forcing you to go out there.
 

tonylg

Legend
In a few days the job site will be safe, but in the meantime get on with it ... that's not exactly current thinking!!!

Current thinking: I want my ballerina hero to show up to a construction site and do pirrouettes from the scaffolding. Someone must change everthing to make so they don't hurt themselves with their stupidity.

Aside from being pitifully slow with a ridiculously high bounce, these grass court are perfectly suitable for .. go figure .. Grass Court Tennis!

Sadly, in a few days they'll be perfectly suitable for clay/hard court tennis.
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
So you are saying that the courts are both suitable and unsuitable for grass court tennis.

Current thinking: I want my ballerina hero to show up to a construction site and do pirrouettes from the scaffolding. Someone must change everthing to make so they don't hurt themselves with their stupidity.

Aside from being pitifully slow with a ridiculously high bounce, these grass court are perfectly suitable for .. go figure .. Grass Court Tennis!

Sadly, in a few days they'll be perfectly suitable for clay/hard court tennis.
 

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
Djokovic at presser confirmed it is his fault - his first step is too fast for the grass stili as he played for month on clay and did not play on grass for 2 years and he thinks he will adjust it as tournament progresses.

Eggvax taking responsibility and demonstrating leadership in these challenging times.

#PTPA
 
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Visionary

Hall of Fame
The preparation of the grass courts has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years. Each grass court is checked by the Grand Slam Supervisors, Referee's Office and Grounds team ahead of play commencing, and on both days of the Fortnight they have been happy with the conditions and cleared the courts for play.
Here is the problem. The Wimbledon's organizer's statement does not consider the genetic modifications scientists have done to the new grass and does not look at the shoes the pro players are wearing. Obviously, the powers want no liabilities, do they?
 

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
More seriously, if racing car drivers have different levels of grip on their tires, then why not two levels of grip for players' shoes depending on how wet the grass is?
 
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