Will Swanton
January 13, 2008
AUSTRALIAN Open tournament director Craig Tiley will be sweating bullets
when his most emphatic claim about Melbourne Park's new Plexicushion
surface is put to the test by the blistering temperatures forecast for
Tuesday.
As revealed by The Sun-Herald a month ago, the Plexicushion Prestige
courts introduced to Australia this summer are slower than Tiley
predicted. Minimal, if any, testing was done on the new surface, a
softer version of Plexicushion courts used overseas. Players at this
week's Medibank International, led by world No.8 Richard Gasquet, also
complained about the courts being incompatible with the Wilson balls to
be used in Melbourne.
Tiley said he was "confident we have found a court that retains less
heat" than the surface used at the Open for the past 20 years, Rebound
Ace. Come Tuesday, when the mercury is forecast to reach 37 degrees, he
will know whether he's made the right choice - or a gigantic blunder.
The Sun-Herald understands the resin used in the rubber base of the
Plexicushion courts has a softening temperature of about 50 degrees. The dark-blue court's surface temperature is likely to hit the 60s on
Tuesday, and that could spell trouble. Acrylic-cushioned hardcourts
become sticky and soft underfoot when they overheat, causing ankle, knee
and hip injuries. The locker room could resemble a war zone.
The polyurethane resin used in Rebound Ace has a softening point of
about 85 degrees.
COMMENT
TENNIS Australia rushed in the new Plexicushion surface with a
recklessly small amount of research.
Anxious Australian Open director and Tennis Australia's high performance
manager Craig Tiley expedited the bidding process to have the courts in
place for this week's tournament. As he says, the choice of surface was
monumentally important because venues throughout the country (helped by
$16,000 TA grants) would use whatever type of court was chosen for
Melbourne Park. His intentions were good, but it's threatening to become
a disaster.
There have been injuries galore in the lead-up tournaments. Impartial
overseas players such as James Blake and Richard Gasquet say the courts
are slow and don't mix with the Wilson balls.
Andy Murray says the Australian Open is losing its local flavour. The Australian Open is the major that doesn't know who it is.
Plexicushion and Wilson, having replaced the Australian-owned Rebound Ace courts and Slazenger balls, are both American.
So, why make the change? At best, the new courts - at a cost of millions
of dollars - are no different to Rebound Ace. At worst they're, well,
worse. Again: why change? It was such a bizarre choice The Sun-Herald
investigated the stunning move.
Former Wimbledon champion Ashley Cooper was on both the court selection committee and TA board that voted for Plexicushion.
The courts are supplied in this country by Australian Plexipave - the
company Cooper founded and profited from between 1977 and 2001. He
denies any insinuation of a conflict of interest, and is no longer
directly involved in the company. He must be taken at his word. But to
have him involved was not a good look.
Tiley wanted medium-fast courts with the waist-high bounce of the US
Open. They might end up that way after years of wear and tear. But for
now, they're medium-slow with head-high bounce. The balls fluff up. It's
not the fault of the balls. They did not fluff up last year on Rebound
Ace. It's the fault of the court, which, again, was tested inadequately.
Australia's most respected coach, Tony Roche, says the new brand of
Rebound Ace is the best on the planet but not one second of play-testing
was done on that company's lastest product. Why?
Word spread after last year's US Open that Plexicushion would be used in
Australia. Lo and behold, it's happened. Rebound Ace representatives
gave their proposal in March. They did not hear another word from TA -
and this after 20 years of suppling the Australian Open courts. The only
testing done by TA was comparing the latest Plexicushion product with
Rebound Ace's 20-year-old version. Unbelievable, but true.
TA's last hope is that Plexicushion does not turn into a glue pot when
temperatures rise. Past injuries have been blamed on Rebound Ace
retaining too much heat. Tiley claims to have "scoured the world"
looking for a cooler court. If it's not cooler, all hell will break
loose. And Tiley will have some explaining to do.
