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GAME CHANGERS | TENNIS

How new grass sowed the seeds of Wimbledon’s revival

In our series about moments that altered sport, Stuart Fraser says modifications to surface and ball size set the scene for some of the great modern physical battles
Nadal reaches for a volley in his epic 4hr 48 min battle with Federer in the 2008 final
Nadal reaches for a volley in his epic 4hr 48 min battle with Federer in the 2008 final
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND

It was in 2001 that Eddie Seaward, then the head groundsman responsible for looking after the fabled grass courts of the All England Club, made a decision that might have seemed of interest only to anoraks but was to have a profound impact on Wimbledon and tennis: instead of using turf that was made up of 70 per cent rye grass and 30 per cent creeping red fescue, he switched to 100 per cent perennial rye.

To this day, insiders at Wimbledon insist that this was to reduce the wear and tear on the courts, rather than an attempt to slow down the speed of the surface and reduce the dominance of the serve. But a quote from Tim Henman, the four-times Wimbledon semi-finalist and a serve-and-volley specialist who back then had the hopes of an entire nation resting on his shoulders, shows that a difference in the pace of the court was immediately noticed.

“I remember sitting at a changeover in 2002 in utter frustration,” Henman told Time magazine in 2008. “I was thinking, ‘What on earth is going on here? I’m on a grass court and it’s the slowest court I’ve played on this year.’”

If you spend some time trawling YouTube for Wimbledon matches from the 1990s, the contrast in how tennis was played back then is striking. This was a decade when Pete Sampras, with his fearsome serve, won six men’s singles titles — the American adding another in 2000. Rallies of more than three shots were a novelty.

It was also a time when the French Open and Wimbledon were considered polar opposites. Gruelling baseline exchanges would be contested on the slower clay of Roland Garros, while wham-bam blink and you’ll miss it tennis would be played on grass at the All England Club. Indeed, there were some clay-court experts who would not bother making the trip from Paris to London, which seems unthinkable now.

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While Seaward’s decision to change the type of grass was not necessarily intended to slow the courts down, there is no doubt that it had an effect on the style of play — more baseline exchanges and less serve-and-volley — we now see at Wimbledon.

The use of 100 per cent perennial rye made the soil drier and the ball bounce higher, so players are not returning serves down at their knees so often. The condition of the surface is also vastly improved, meaning that there are far fewer bad bounces.

With hindsight, the timing was perfect. Not long after, arguably the greatest generation in the history of men’s tennis was to start, starring Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal — who has particularly benefited from an easier transition from clay to grass — Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Rather than watching short rallies, we have been treated to some fascinating physical battles. The entertainment value has undoubtedly increased.

There was another technical decision around the same time that was to have a similar impact. In 1999, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) introduced a test of larger and heavier balls — the differences are actually so small that they would go unnoticed by many club players — on faster surfaces. Unlike Wimbledon officials, the ITF made no secret of its wish to change the speed of the sport.

1993 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships
The 2008 thriller was a far cry from when Sampras and his serve dominated
FOCUS ON SPORT/GETTY IMAGES

“It will also reduce the dominance of the serve, which will make tennis more attractive to spectators,” Andrew Coe, the ITF’s head of product development at the time, said. “It will also offer greater visibility for players and television viewers.”

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The benefits of slower courts and balls did not go unnoticed by tournament directors across the world. At smaller events — below the grand slams and Masters series, the next tier of events — they pay substantial appearance fees, sometimes seven-figure sums, to have players such as Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray compete.

The opportunity to have them compete in longer and more entertaining matches could not be resisted, and sand is often added to the paint of hard courts to slow proceedings down.

Some players and fans understandably regret the loss of serve-and-volley tennis and the decrease in variation between the different surfaces. And this is not meant to demean the quality of play in the 1990s. But it is no coincidence that the level of widespread interest in the sport has reached new highs over the past 20 years.

The inspiration?
This series on moments that changed the evolution of sport was inspired by a reader, aidanross95, who suggested it as a lockdown read in a comment on our website.

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