Most tennis players have a favourite court surface with a variety of reasons as to why that surface is best for their game. There are three main types of surfaces: hard courts, grass courts, and clay courts. Two of the Grand Slam tournaments are played on hard courts–the Australian Open and the U.S. Open. Wimbledon is played on grass courts and the French Open, Roland Garros, is played on red clay. The surface interacts with the ball at every bounce affecting its speed and trajectory. The surface also interacts with the player at every footstep affecting the player’s movement. Each surface also is affected by the weather in that temperature and humidity can play a role in the flight of the ball. It is also necessary with many courts now having retractable roofs to consider the change in conditions between roof open and roof closed.
Why is grass court tennis so difficult for some players to adapt to?
In the past few weeks the players have moved from the slow gritty surface of clay to the much faster surface of grass. Which players have a game that gives them an advantage on grass and why?
Roland Garros is played on a red “clay” surface where the clay is actually ground up red roof tiles. When the ball hits the surface it creates a dent and the trajectory changes from moving forward to moving more upwards. This upward trajectory causes a high bounce and friction helps slow the ball down and contributes to the long strategic rallies typical of clay court tennis. This surface makes a topspin shot really kick up making it even more effective, but in contrast it negates a heavy slice as the ball does not stay as low.
The clay granules also act like little ball bearings underfoot allowing players to slide to the ball, but this surface also makes it very difficult for a player to change direction very quickly.
The weather also plays a role in clay court tennis. Cold damp conditions, as often seen in Paris during the French Open, can increase the fuzziness of the ball and clay particles adhere to it making it harder for the players to generate pace. On the other hand, a warm sunny day will allow the ball to travel faster through the air (remember from physics, warm air is less dense than cold air), favouring harder flatter shots. Rafael Nadal has exploited the features of the clay court perfectly. His super heavy topspin ball kicks off the court making it extremely difficult to return, especially for players with a single handed backhand like Roger Federer.
Grass courts provide the ultimate contrast to clay courts. The surface at Wimbledon is now comprised of 100% rye grass. When the ball hits the grass surface its trajectory is changed but at a different angle than on the clay. When the ball hits the grass it does not change its forward motion to an upward motion as significantly as on clay. This results in a lower bounce with more forward direction, causing the ball to almost skid off the surface. What this effectively does is negate some of the heavy topspin and accentuate slice shots. A well executed slice will stay very low to the ground, making it very difficult to return and making the ball appear to travel even faster.
This type of surface favours players with hard flat shots and shots with lots of slice–for example, Roger Federer’s slice backhand. A flat, fast-paced serve is also more dangerous on this surface as seen in the dangerous serves of players like Milos Raonic and Ivo Karlovic. As the tournament progresses the grass court starts to show the wear and tear that it is subjected to and this leads to awkward and unpredictable bounces that change the trajectory of the ball, forcing a player to adapt at the last second if at all possible.
This year the grass courts at Wimbledon have been affected by the extreme heat wave. The ground beneath the grass is harder, making it bouncier than usual. The effect is slowing balls down and giving players more time to react; however, the hot air is less dense than cooler air so the ball can travel faster through the air.
Once there is the slightest drizzle in the air, grass courts become very slippery and the risk of injury increases dramatically. The addition of a retractable roof at Wimbledon allows play to continue during bad weather, however the change in conditions also appears to change the speed of the ball.
When the roof is first closed it is very humid inside causing the balls to slow down as they travel through the heavier air. But there is an extensive system of fans that are employed to try to maintain humidity levels comparable to the outdoors. Even so, conditions inside are dependent on what the conditions were outside when the roof was actually closed. It appears that inside the closed stadium the ball is heavier and therefore does not travel as quickly.
The difficulty players encounter when changing from one surface to another has resulted in some players focusing on either the clay courts or the grass courts during this portion of the tennis calendar. This year an extra week was added between the French Open and Wimbledon to help players prepare for the grass season. Most players are happy with the extra preparation time but I guess we will have to wait for the final weekend of Wimbledon to see who benefited the most.
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