Wimbledon court speed

[dumb-person]

I just have re-watched Djokovic-Nadal 2018 and i felt like courts are terribly slow compared to this what we used to see in past. Can anyone tell me if court speed has been lowered and how fast are courts there currently, thank you.

 

[WildRevolver]

I thought it was slow in 19 too.

 

[Jonesy]

Ultimate Tennis Statistics - Wimbledon 2018

Wimbledon 2018 at Ultimate Tennis Statistics

www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com

 

[NAS]

Ultimate Tennis Statistics - Wimbledon 2018

Wimbledon 2018 at Ultimate Tennis Statistics

www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com

According to statistics you have given 2018 was faster than 2005,2006

 

[NAS]

According to some reports 2014 was the fastest in last decade.
2014,2013,2012,2011,2015,2018,2016,2019,2017 in decreasing speed

 

[NAS]

According to that report
Speed Rating Tournament
1.31 2011 Wimbledon
1.28 2019 Australian Open*
1.27 2014 Wimbledon
1.27 2016 Australian Open
1.23 2017 Australian Open
1.20 2015 Australian Open
1.18 2015 Wimbledon
1.17 2013 Wimbledon
1.17 2012 Wimbledon
1.15 2014 Australian Open
They are the fastest ten slam in last decade
All data is up to 2019

 

[NAS]

Worst thing is not a single us open in that list

 

[SonnyT]

Worst thing is not a single us open in that list

Exactly! That's why Djokovic struggles at USO compared with AO, and Wimbledon. Same reason for Federer, who made one USO final in the last decade.

Also the reason why USO is Nadal's 2nd best Slam. I suspect USO is not only slower than AO, but bounces higher! There's a reason Nadal couldn't win either AO or Wimbledon after '10: after he lost the blazing speed of his youth, those slams are too fast for him!

So what many suspect is true: AO and Wimbledon are built to Federer and Djokovic's liking; RG to Nadal's liking; USO is up for grabs between Nadal and Djokovic.

 

[NAS]

Exactly! That's why Djokovic struggles at USO compared with AO, and Wimbledon. Same reason for Federer, who made one USO final in the last decade.

Also the reason why USO is Nadal's 2nd best Slam. I suspect USO is not only slower than AO, but bounces higher!

For the first time in decade us open 2020 speed suited him but what a stupid way to go out

 

[ForehandRF]

Exactly! That's why Djokovic struggles at USO compared with AO, and Wimbledon. Same reason for Federer, who made one USO final in the last decade.

Also the reason why USO is Nadal's 2nd best Slam. I suspect USO is not only slower than AO, but bounces higher! There's a reason Nadal couldn't win either AO or Wimbledon after '10: after he lost the blazing speed of his youth, those slams are too fast for him!

Fed also wasn't particularly fit for the USO mostly post 2015 but yeah, courts were slower and higher bouncing, practically it was a different tournament compared to 2000s.

 

[NAS]

Fed also wasn't particularly fit for the USO mostly post 2015 but yeah, courts were slower and higher bouncing, practically it was a different tournament compared to 2000s.

I think a fit Fed might taken title in 2020 without Novak and Rafa

 

[I Am Finnish]

Djokovic open

 

[tennistiger]

Game Speed is not court surface Speed.

 

[ForehandRF]

For the first time in decade us open 2020 speed suited him but what a stupid way to go out

I dunno what a hell the organisers were thinking at the turn of the 2010s with making the USO that way, a slam traditionally medium fast and low bouncing.In the 2000s conditions were probably even faster than at Wimbledon in some years, at least than in the 2nd week when the grass wears down.Those days with the old stadium , when the balls sounded like gunshots when they hit them....

 

[ollinger]

So what many suspect is true: AO and Wimbledon are built to Federer and Djokovic's liking; RG to Nadal's liking; USO is up for grabs between Nadal and Djokovic.

...........and the speeds of the courts are being altered by space lasers

 

[ForehandRF]

I think a fit Fed might taken title in 2020 without Novak and Rafa

True, that would have been a winnable tournament, especially as we saw that the finalists choked big time.

 

[NAS]

I dunno what a hell the organisers were thinking at the turn of the 2010s with making the USO that way, a slam traditionally medium fast and low bouncing.In the 2000s conditions were probably even faster than at Wimbledon in some years, at least than in the 2nd week when the grass wears down.Those days with the old stadium , when the balls sounded like gunshots when they hit them....

US open was never faster but they used to use light balls which make them look faster

 

[NAS]

True, that would have been a winnable tournament, especially as we saw that the finalists choked big time.

Apart from finalist choking big thing was medium speed courts in decade, 2018 us open was may be slowest along with 2016, even delpo FH was not penrating Djokovic defense

 

[ForehandRF]

US open was never faster but they used to use light balls which make them look faster

That is a plausible explaination but I think that in the 2010s they also added more silica when they painted the courts

 

[NAS]

I have always said 2017, 2018, 2019 are the slowest Wimbledon anyway, Pella made the qf

 

[40-15 still haunts me]

I think it’s a myth the grass courts are slow or seemingly slower than what they were, Djokovic and Nadal love playing from the baseline and Novaks returning skills are insane so it may seem like the courts are slower than when an ultra attacking player like Federer is on court and ending the point in 3 shots.

 

[NAS]

I think it’s a myth the grass courts are slow or seemingly slower than what they were, Djokovic and Nadal love playing from the baseline and Novaks returning skills are insane so it may seem like the courts are slower than when an ultra attacking player like Federer is on court and ending the point in 3 shots.

Oh come on I am Novak fan but no way 2018 or 2019 was even medium fast , medium speed at best

 

[Jonesy]

According to statistics you have given 2018 was faster than 2005,2006

Ultimate Tennis Statistics - Glossary

Ultimate Tennis Statistics Glossary

www.ultimatetennisstatistics.com

• Court Speed - Court Speed Index (1 - 100): 80 * cube-root(Ace % * (Service Points Won % - 50%) * (Service Games Won % - 50%)) - 56, where statistics figures are adjusted with server's and returner's relative figure difference averaged by season and surface

 

[Jonesy]

Game Speed is not court surface Speed.

But what does this tell us?

 

[Tennis_Freak99]

Wimbledon has pretty much become a green HC

 

[I Am Finnish]

Wimbledon has pretty much become a green HC

Green Clay

 

[ForehandRF]

Roger Federer was asked about the speed of the courts in an interview, in 2017.I found it, saved on my computer lol.Please read carefully

Can you walk us through how the conditions have changed over the years when you first came on tour, surfaces slowed down, balls get heavy, and now do you sense another change around the corner with quicker conditions in Australia?

ROGER FEDERER: Well, I mean, look, depends on when exactly we're talking about. There was definitely a time where things were definitely slowing down. After the millennium really I thought you could see and feel a proper change, how things were leaning towards the slower side. More and more matches were played in the night sessions, particularly at the Australian Open.In 2004 I played the finals there it was in the daytime.That's always going to play fast, regardless of what kind of balls you're going t play with. If you're playing in 40 degree heat, the ball is always going to fly.
So then the way they set it up, basically you're going to play quarters, semis, and finals in the night. If you add a slow ball and you slow down the courts too much, you're going to be in some epic rallies.There is just no way around them. Especially the way the guys started to move back when Lleyton came around and all those guys.Wimbledon, definitely also there was something that happened there. I don't know if it's the balls or the grass, but that's definitely slowed down.
I feel like the US Open and French probably played pretty much the same throughout, in my opinion.Then you had, the indoor season. By making a court more even throughout, because we used to change from Teraflex to sort of the Greenset. You had like sort of the wooden boards that were painted. We made it more unified so it was the same surface, wooden boards throughout. Then what happened is they wanted have the same surface for the entire swing, and that became slow as well. The word Tour Finals were played on the slower side.
So next thing you know, basically everything played somewhat similar, which think is a bit of a pity. I like it when there is extremes. Then you have to play different ways. It was nice to see Ivan Lendl serve and volley at Wimbledon, even though he didn't want to do.It was nice to see Edberg or Becker play from the baseline on clay courts. It was nice to see them out of their element.
Then you all of a sudden become a different kind of player and you improve throughout your career, like this.You can just be happy hitting hard from
the baseline on any surface. Just play the same way. Just adjust your movement a little bit. But to me, that's not so exciting. I think it's important we have change. Really slow and really fast.

 

[NAS]

Wimbledon has pretty much become a green HC

Difference between Wimbledon and HC is never been speed but their bad bounce, according to different CPI Wimbledon is still medium fast but higher bounce make it play like hc

 

[StrongRule]

Yeah, so slow that Djokovic was servebotting for 5 sets. More than 20 aces, leave alone other unreturnable serves.

 

[xFedal]

Yeah, so slow that Djokovic was servebotting for 5 sets. More than 20 aces, leave alone other unreturnable serves.

Who said AO21 played slow? Novak was ace leader of the tournament, it played medium fast!

 

[StrongRule]

Who said AO21 played slow? Novak was ace leader of the tournament, it played medium fast!

I'm talking about Wimbledon 2018, which OP somehow called "slow".

 

[xFedal]

I'm talking about Wimbledon 2018, which OP somehow called "slow".

According to that report
Speed Rating Tournament
1.31 2011 Wimbledon
1.28 2019 Australian Open*
1.27 2014 Wimbledon
1.27 2016 Australian Open
1.23 2017 Australian Open
1.20 2015 Australian Open
1.18 2015 Wimbledon
1.17 2013 Wimbledon
1.17 2012 Wimbledon
1.15 2014 Australian Open
They are the fastest ten slam in last decade
All data is up to 2019

Wimbledon 2018 is not among the fastest slams though. The reason why Nole hit that many aces is because it was a 5 hour match.

 

[Jonesy]

What people can't understand is that the game still plays faster today than that time even with the slower courts.

 

[ForehandRF]

What people can't understand is that the game still plays faster today than that time even with the slower courts.

That's why I like clay today more than 20 years ago

 

[TimHenmanATG]

True, that would have been a winnable tournament, especially as we saw that the finalists choked big time.

"Winnable" is an understatement. He was virtually a nailed-on certainty amongst that depleted field.

His petulant outburst ultimately cost him a chance to claim the GS record.