US Open officials: Courts slower, but will speed up

OddJack

G.O.A.T.
Officials say its slower and they have a reason why:

Stung by some grumbling that the Flushing Meadows courts were playing slower than usual, US Open officials say they expect the courts to play faster as the tournament goes on.

Five-time champion Roger Federer was the most outspoken in regretting what he felt was a significantly slower speed than the New York hardcourts had offered in the past.

"It's definitely slower," Federer said after his first-round victory over Colombian Santiago Giraldo on Monday night on Arthur Ashe stadium. "It takes some getting used to. You're not getting as many free points maybe with your serve.

"The issue for me is maybe did they make a mistake," Federer said. "Maybe they did paint the court a bit too rough.

"It's just unfortunate I think that maybe all the Slams are too equal. I think this should feel very different to the Australian Open, and now I don't feel it really does."

The US Tennis Association, in a statement made available on Wednesday, said the actual surface hadn't changed. But rainy weather conditions since their annual resurfacing in August meant the courts have been used and power washed less often.

"Both of these factors have resulted in the courts playing a little slower than usual," the USTA said in a statement.

"We expect the court surface to speed up as the courts get more play throughout the tournament as they traditionally have."

Mardy Fish, the top-ranked American in the men's field, said before the tournament he had noticed a difference, but he thought some of that might be due to high humidity.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal said he didn't feel much difference after a tough 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 7-5 first-round victory over Andrey Golubev. He suggested that a player's impression of how fast the courts are is, at least in part, subjective.

"I see the court very similar than last year," he said. "That's my feeling. But everybody has a different feeling. When you arrive at one tournament, for one court the court is very fast, for another court the court is not that fast.

"It depends how you're playing and your feelings. And your feelings are not the same every year. So your opinion on how you see the court depends how you're moving, how you're playing."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/sports/254486/courts-will-be-up-to-speed-us-open-officials


No Rafa, court speeds have nothing to do with the way you play or your feelings. You know its slower so why you wanna white wash it buddy>?
 
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BeHappy

Hall of Fame
Back in the 80's and early 90's they were actually much much slower than they are now if you look at old matches on youtube.
 

ivan_the_terrible

Hall of Fame
Rafa should be so wordy when he's describing one of his many imaginative injuries:

Instead of : "My knees, no good no?"

He should say: "My anterior cruciate ligament, she is damaged.
let me explain to you. In the quadruped stifle (analogous to the knee), based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.

The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur. Its proximal fibers fan out along the medial wall of the lateral femoral condyle. There are two bundles of the ACL—the anteromedial and the posterolateral, named according to where the bundles insert into the tibial plateau. The ACL attaches in front of the intercondyloid eminence of the tibia, being blended with the anterior horn of the lateral meniscus. These attachments allow it to resist anterior translation and medial rotation of the tibia, in relation to the femur.

No?
 

Gizo

Hall of Fame
The organisers used to regularly tinker with the surface until they were happy with what they saw in 2003.

In the 90s, I'm pretty sure that there were strong accusations, led by players like Ivanisevic, that the organisers were slowing down the surface to favour Agassi who was the big star and cash cow (casual fans didn't care about the other American players).
 

whomad15

Semi-Pro
"I see the court very similar than last year," he said. "That's my feeling. But everybody has a different feeling. When you arrive at one tournament, for one court the court is very fast, for another court the court is not that fast.

"It depends how you're playing and your feelings. And your feelings are not the same every year. So your opinion on how you see the court depends how you're moving, how you're playing."

I'm not a Nadal hater or anything, but really? Another "ehhh ima not give an answer so no one can hate me for how I answer, you know they played a great match and I barely won again"
 

Defcon

Hall of Fame
Why can't they test the court speed and publish it. They have stats for pretty much everything. It would stop all the speculation and grumbling. Same thing goes for balls. Are they afraid?
 

Defcon

Hall of Fame
Nadal is two-faced, its not surprising really. For yeas he and his camp have whined about how slower courts are better and that the tour is too fast. At the same time he refuses to acknowledge the game has slowed down because that would be admitting he has an advantage.
 

Nadalfan89

Hall of Fame
Nadal is no his 18 year old self. He hits the ball flatter and faster than he ever did and he uses a much flatter serve on hard courts.

He doesn't benefit from slow courts nearly as much as he used to so can you idiots stop with this?
 

CDestroyer

Professional
Nadal is two-faced, its not surprising really. For yeas he and his camp have whined about how slower courts are better and that the tour is too fast. At the same time he refuses to acknowledge the game has slowed down because that would be admitting he has an advantage.

He is a liar, cheater, dumb and a butt sniffer.
 
T

TennisandMusic

Guest
So let me get this straight...the US Open states the courts are EXACTLY THE SAME...just maybe "slower" because they've been used less (this is true, new courts tend to bounce up higher hence more time to get to the ball, i.e. "slower"). Nadal states things seem more or less the same as last year.

And the Federer fans are calling for his head on a stick? You guys are insane.

You know if the situations were reversed and Nadal were saying it was slower, and Federer was shrugging it off as pretty much the same the same people here would be lambasting Nadal as a complainer. Seriously guys, get out a LOT MORE.
 

FedExpress 333

Professional
WOW, nadal is soooo arrogant. He wont admit the courts are slower. And nadalfan89, where did you go as soon as someone posted proof of you being dead wrong?
 

Defcon

Hall of Fame
So let me get this straight...the US Open states the courts are EXACTLY THE SAME...just maybe "slower" because they've been used less (this is true, new courts tend to bounce up higher hence more time to get to the ball, i.e. "slower"). Nadal states things seem more or less the same as last year.

And the Federer fans are calling for his head on a stick? You guys are insane.

You know if the situations were reversed and Nadal were saying it was slower, and Federer was shrugging it off as pretty much the same the same people here would be lambasting Nadal as a complainer. Seriously guys, get out a LOT MORE.

Ok lets *really* get this straight. USTA has said that the courts are in fact playing slower. No need for the "" and try to imply otherwise like you did.

"Both of these factors have resulted in the courts playing a little slower than usual," the USTA said in a statement.

Federer then confirms that yes, in fact, they are playing slower. Nadal again weasels out and doesn't confirm what must be obvious to him.

If the conditions do in fact become faster over the next few days, you can bet Fed will admit that. He always says it like it is. Nadal will once again refuse to actually say anything.
 

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
If the officials didn't have any intensions to change the surface/decrease the speed why is it slower this year? I mean the courts look exactly the same as 2005-2010
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
Why can't they test the court speed and publish it. They have stats for pretty much everything. It would stop all the speculation and grumbling. Same thing goes for balls. Are they afraid?

They certaily can test court speed (sort of like testing green speed in golf), but for whatever reason they rarely do and if they do, they don't heavily publicize the results.

Last year, someone posted some statistics about courts around the world and I think the Paris indoor was the fastest court in 2010.
 

Limpinhitter

G.O.A.T.
Why can't they test the court speed and publish it. They have stats for pretty much everything. It would stop all the speculation and grumbling. Same thing goes for balls. Are they afraid?

You mean like a tennis court version of a stimpmeter? Interesting!
 

namelessone

Legend
Federer then confirms that yes, in fact, they are playing slower. Nadal again weasels out and doesn't confirm what must be obvious to him.

If the conditions do in fact become faster over the next few days, you can bet Fed will admit that. He always says it like it is. Nadal will once again refuse to actually say anything.

You know this how?

Maybe Nadal said what he thought after a couple of practice sessions and one match in USO? Maybe the conditions were a bit faster in his match.

Remember, this is after a match in which Nadal watched 41 winners breeze by him, in 3 sets no less. I doubt you think courts are slow after such a match.

To compare, Novak hit something like 45 winners in 4 sets in last USO's final and please don't tell me that was slow as well.
 
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namelessone

Legend
So let me get this straight...the US Open states the courts are EXACTLY THE SAME...just maybe "slower" because they've been used less (this is true, new courts tend to bounce up higher hence more time to get to the ball, i.e. "slower"). Nadal states things seem more or less the same as last year.

And the Federer fans are calling for his head on a stick? You guys are insane.

You know if the situations were reversed and Nadal were saying it was slower, and Federer was shrugging it off as pretty much the same the same people here would be lambasting Nadal as a complainer. Seriously guys, get out a LOT MORE.

I'm sorry but I have to ask this:

Why are you surprised? Ain't no freaking way that Nadal said what he thought, he just wanted to mess with the TW trolls.

A word of wisdom for the people trolling in here: watch Nadal's 1st round matches in 2010 and 2011 USO. If you're being honest, do you really see a major difference in speed? I sure as hell don't.
 
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TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest
Federer is terrible judging outside factors. Just terrible.

Nadal is a liar, he didnt know what to say since he couldnt ask Uncle Toni before he answered
 

kanamit

Hall of Fame
So the courts will speed up because there are multiple planned pressure washes over the fortnight? What kind of stupid statement is that?
 
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Wilander Fan

Hall of Fame
So the courts will speed up because there are multiple planned pressure washes over the fortnight? What kind of stupid statement is that?

I noticed really slow hard courts do speed up pretty quickly since the rough paint they use wears down. This can make for some uneven bounces when a ball hits a worn out patch.
 
D

Deleted member 77403

Guest
The courts did look a bit slow at the start. I still had the Cincy timing going on, and there was certainly a change for me between the two. Interesting to see if the courts do speed up.
 

Clay lover

Legend
What? Nadal said something about perception of speed being different for everyone and he gets flamed? Will you guys ever quit? How do you know that people know the speed of the court they're playing on? How do you know if Nadal is lying or not?

I am truly SICK of this. Hate and ignorance knows no boundaries. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.
 
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Clay lover

Legend
As we all know, Nadal is a talentless cheating false humble liar. Nothing new. Federe is the most aestehtic, genuine and classy person ever. AWESOME post by ODdJack.
 
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NamRanger

G.O.A.T.
The reason why Nadal is getting so much flak is because it is clearly obvious that both Wimbledon and other tournaments have gotten progressively slower throughout the years, and yet he absolutely refuses to admit that the courts are definitely alot slower than they were during the 90s.


No sane person could ever argue that the courts today are faster than they were in the 90s; not even remotely the same speed at all. Not once has he ever answered "Oh yes, I feel the courts may play a little slower or faster than usual." He simply says it is the same every single year, year in and year out, when it is painfully obvious that is not the case.
 
On a more technical note (as I'm fairly new to this): how do you adjust court speed without resurfacing (assuming the US Open officials didn't decide to rip up the surface and pave a new one)?
 

West Coast Ace

G.O.A.T.
Why can't they test the court speed and publish it. They have stats for pretty much everything. It would stop all the speculation and grumbling. Same thing goes for balls. Are they afraid?
I was thinking the same thing. Golf has a Stimpmeter to measure greens' speed. And a robot called Iron Byron that hits balls the same way so they can measure initial velocity.

As a Fed fan, it bothers me that he's being so negative. Should have just said 'seem a little slower'. When he went on and on about 'you can take a full cut and they still get every ball back' it sounded like he was preparing an excuse.

And I still can't believe it's more than 1 or 2% overall (court grit + ball degradation). The pros feel it because they've been hitting thousands of balls daily for almost their entire life.
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
As a Fed fan, it bothers me that he's being so negative. Should have just said 'seem a little slower'. When he went on and on about 'you can take a full cut and they still get every ball back' it sounded like he was preparing an excuse.

I disagree, it's not about Fed in particular but I'm glad to see any big name player speak against surface homogenization regardless if he's motivated by selfish reasons or not.

One of the things that made tennis a special sport is surface variety, you watch AO and RG you see a lot of grueling rallies, you watch Wimbledon you see serve and volley, you watch USO you see all-court tennis etc. Now it looks so similar all year long that it's getting downright annoying.
 

namelessone

Legend
The reason why Nadal is getting so much flak is because it is clearly obvious that both Wimbledon and other tournaments have gotten progressively slower throughout the years, and yet he absolutely refuses to admit that the courts are definitely alot slower than they were during the 90s.

Did Nadal play in the 90's to compare speeds over different surfaces? No.

Was he asked to compare USO 2011 speed to the 90's speed? No.

It's unbelievable to see how many bitter people there are around here. All he said is that from HIS POV the courts play about the same as last year and everybody is OUTRAGEEEDD!!!!

I'm sure the courts seem slow as hell after watching 41 winners wheeze past you in 3 sets.

Jesus Christ.
 

veroniquem

Bionic Poster
Nadal never denied that Wimbledon was less fast than during the 90s. What he said is that it's still the fastest of the 4 slams and he is absolutely right about that.
 

zagor

Bionic Poster
Did Nadal play in the 90's to compare speeds over different surfaces? No.

Was he asked to compare USO 2011 speed to the 90's speed? No.

It's unbelievable to see how many bitter people there are around here. All he said is that from HIS POV the courts play about the same as last year and everybody is OUTRAGEEEDD!!!!

I'm sure the courts seem slow as hell after watching 41 winners wheeze past you in 3 sets.

Jesus Christ.

Oh stop dramatizing for Pete's sake. Nadal didn't receive anywhere near the barrage of insults Fed is receiving right now in "time wasting" thread. All this "Nadal and his fans are poor victims" is starting to get annoying, you guys can sure dish it out for someone who is supposed to be oppressed and bullied by evil Fed fans.
 
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zagor

Bionic Poster
lol Rafa. Nice lie to hide your love for slow courts.

But if he loves slow courts that much why is he more consistent at USO and Wimbledon than at AO :) ?

Not to mention that many players noted how fast FO was playing this year and Nadal won there. :)
 
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