NWR: Spoof in Tennis

[Andy Beaton]

Surface Tension. How big a role has court technology played in tennis's current golden age?

 

[MLipton]

originally posted by Andy Beaton:
NWR: Spoof in TennisSurface Tension. How big a role has court technology played in tennis's current golden age?

It's an interesting argument but I would argue that 'twas ever so. I grew up playing with a wood racquet on hardcourt. The changes in racquet technology have been massive and revolutionary. The US Open has, in my lifetime, used claycourt, grass court and hardcourt surfaces and the Australian has used both clay and various hardcourt surfaces. Balls have changed, too, becoming heavier.

And his basketball analogy falls down, too. The parquet floor that the Celtics play on has long been known to afford different bounces than other wood floors, and floors placed on cement slabs or hockey rinks probably give a different bounce, too. Then, of course, there is the kind of basketball I grew up playing, on cement courts outdoors, and anyone who argues that the ball bounces the same there has obviously never played on them.

There's an argument to be made that the USTA and the TPA has been too free in changing equipment standards, but that how they roll, it would seem.

Mark Lipton

 

[Andy Beaton]

His basketball argument is a stretch at best. Boston, as you mentioned, had two examples. The former court had dead spots that Celtic players knew about and there were guide wires that helped defend inbound passes. In hockey, the ice was shorter than any rink in the league, allowing Bobby Orr to pick up a head of steam and score at will. I think when you throw in tons of old examples of strange dimensions in baseball, football fields that sloped dramatically or were rock hard, and every third stadium and arena being a shithole for one reason or another, tennis is just keeping up with sports in general.

The better point in the piece is that even with changing surfaces, it was always quite difficult to develop a skill set to succeed in all four majors. And now, some tennis enthusiasts fondly remember an era full of aces and 3-shot rallies.

 

[Rahsaan]

Interesting article. I only scanned it, but the most interesting parlor debate aspect was how Federer would have done against Nadal with different courts. For me, comparing across generations is less interesting.