TimHenmanATG
Hall of Fame
The idea of a longer grass court season and a grass Masters appears to be popular on these forums, and amongst tennis fans in general.
The biggest obstacle to overcome is the scheduling.
The current grass schedule is sandwiched between the European clay court season and the North American hardcourt season.
A grass court Masters seemingly has to happen before Wimbledon, otherwise there'd be very much an''after the Lord Mayor's show'' vibe surrounding it. The tournament in Newport in the USA is completely inconsequential, for example. Not just because it's a 250, but because nobody is interested in grass court tennis after Wimbledon.
The only conceivable solutions appear to be to either push the French Open back to early May (and reschedule the clay Masters 2-3 weeks earlier) or push Wimbledon back to late July.
Wimbledon and the French Open are the two most historic and traditional Grand Slam tournaments, so changes to their scheduling will not generally be met welcomingly by their organisers.
The biggest obstacle to overcome is the scheduling.
The current grass schedule is sandwiched between the European clay court season and the North American hardcourt season.
A grass court Masters seemingly has to happen before Wimbledon, otherwise there'd be very much an''after the Lord Mayor's show'' vibe surrounding it. The tournament in Newport in the USA is completely inconsequential, for example. Not just because it's a 250, but because nobody is interested in grass court tennis after Wimbledon.
The only conceivable solutions appear to be to either push the French Open back to early May (and reschedule the clay Masters 2-3 weeks earlier) or push Wimbledon back to late July.
Wimbledon and the French Open are the two most historic and traditional Grand Slam tournaments, so changes to their scheduling will not generally be met welcomingly by their organisers.