Any clues as to Wimbledon being faster grass this year?

[OrangeOne]

Just thought I'd see if anyone has heard anything - evidence, reports, articles, even rumours - as to whether Wimbledon has done anything to the grass this year?

One day, it'd be nice to return to some fast grass to bring back the real contrast between the FO and Wimbledon, and to give the S&V players a place to shine.

Anyways - post away if you've heard anything!

 

[beedlejuice22]

Exactly what serve and volley players are you talking about? I thought they were all extinct. I think Wimbledon is happy with their grass for now.

 

[OrangeOne]

Federer, Roddick, Guccione, Mahut, ...

There are more that I'm sure others could chime in with here....

 

[hollywood9826]

I would not say roddick is an S&V guy. but faster grass would help that 1st bomb of his for sure. Stepanek would do some damage on faster surface, but fedwould probably just destroy everyone if it got faster. Which is the exact reason they won't make it so.

 

[my_forehand]

I, for one, wouldn't mind if the grass was faster, make it a little more interesting - but not THAT fast.

 

[hollywood9826]

What would be interesting about federer beating everyone 6-2 6-3 6-2? Nadal would get bounced in 2nd or 3rd round. blake, davy, ferrer would be gone early. roddick would get bounced before the quarters. Andy Murray would be a goner.

So if you mean by intersting lesser known players (Malivai Washington 96) getting exposure and eventually getting blasted by federer much like the dutchman blasted Malivai. then yes it would be more interesting

 

[OrangeOne]

What would be interesting about federer beating everyone 6-2 6-3 6-2? Nadal would get bounced in 2nd or 3rd round. blake, davy, ferrer would be gone early. roddick would get bounced before the quarters. Andy Murray would be a goner.

So if you mean by intersting lesser known players (Malivai Washington 96) getting exposure and eventually getting blasted by federer much like the dutchman blasted Malivai. then yes it would be more interesting

Exactly what serve and volley players are you talking about? I thought they were all extinct. I think Wimbledon is happy with their grass for now.

Both of you are being very short-sighted. It's a chicken and egg situation, why are there not many S&V players now? Because the W grass doesn't reward them. Make it fast again and S&V players would come from everywhere, and just because Fed is dominating now doesn't mean he always will, there could be other great players who never get to show off a great style of play because we don't have surfaces that allow them to!

Is variety not the spice of life? RG is still slowish clay, why should W not be the opposite of that, bring out a different group of players?

 

[hollywood9826]

Both of you are being very short-sighted. It's a chicken and egg situation, why are there not many S&V players now? Because the W grass doesn't reward them. Make it fast again and S&V players would come from everywhere, and just because Fed is dominating now doesn't mean he always will, there could be other great players who never get to show off a great style of play because we don't have surfaces that allow them to!

Is variety not the spice of life? RG is still slowish clay, why should W not be the opposite of that, bring out a different group of players?

I'm simply thinking like the organizers of the tourney. Basically they are tryin to make money, and you do that by packing seats. and right now long bashing battles are packing seats. If they sped it while Fed is still in his prime most people would tune out and assume he will dominate. And if its mid 90's fast he may rack up 4 or 5 more titles before somebody hones the skill to challenge.


I agree with you in principle. More younger kids would want to employ that staregy to be like whatever country man/idol they see wining and bring back more variety to the game. But money talks in this world and long points as opposed to 3 ball points are what is packing the seats and tuning the tele's

 

[beedlejuice22]

Federer, Roddick, Guccione, Mahut, ...

There are more that I'm sure others could chime in with here....

Since when are Federer and Roddick S&V players? They are both avid baseliners. I don't know about Guccione and Mahut because they were playing more often before I got into tennis. But Federer and Roddick are definetely baseliners that occasionally come up to the net.

 

[flyer]

Federer, Roddick, Guccione, Mahut, ...

There are more that I'm sure others could chime in with here....

federer and roddick are defiantly not serve and volleyer they are not even close

 

[Feña14]

I think the way the grass has been at Wimbledon over the past few years has made it the best surface for everyone.

It's an average pace with low bounce and is very good on the body, you have all kinds of players doing well on there as opposed to fast high bouncing hard courts and slow high bouncing clay courts, everyone seems to be able to get something out of it and I think it's great.

As to it being any faster this year, i've not heard anything like that but the weather has been alot better this year than over the past few years with less rain so i'm wondering if that might make a difference? Probably not but worth mentioning.

 

[quest01]

To be honest I'd rather not watch serve and volley Tennis unless I want to be bored to tears from reliving the horrors of watching Sampras vs Rafter in the 2000 Wimbledon Final. A reason why organizers decided to slow down the courts was because the viewers and people watching the matches wanted to see more baseline rallies so I really don't think they are going to screw the fans and speed up the courts but I do realize the diehard Tennis fanatics and serve and volley extraordinaries want Wimbledon to be quicker.

 

[OrangeOne]

Since when are Federer and Roddick S&V players? They are both avid baseliners. I don't know about Guccione and Mahut because they were playing more often before I got into tennis. But Federer and Roddick are definetely baseliners that occasionally come up to the net.

Ok - I regret putting roddick in the initial list, it was more a 'if it was fast grass he'd be crazy not to S&V', but "Federer is a baseliner who occasionally comes up to the net?" My god.

I have nothing else to say...

 

[Klatu Verata Necktie]

Ok - I regret putting roddick in the initial list, it was more a 'if it was fast grass he'd be crazy not to S&V', but "Federer is a baseliner who occasionally comes up to the net?" My god.

I have nothing else to say...

I think that listing Roddick as a serve and volley player may have been an accurate description after his performance in Rome. Did you see any of his matches? He looked like Andy Edberg.

 

[HyperHorse]

It really makes me think whether tennis is here simply as a sport for people to watch, or is it entertainment for the pure sake of commerce, when they try to dilute the game by making all the surfaces more similiar.
Makes an even greater farce when you compare today's top players to those of bygone eras..

 

[zebano]

I would love to see faster grass at Wimbledon. Otherwise why not play on carpet? Contrasts between the slams is a good thing.