Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
There are all kinds of percolating issues on the eve of the Australian Open, although one of the bigger ones went away yesterday when Venus Williams formally withdrew from the tournament because of lingering problems with her right wrist. But the thing I'm most curious about is the degree to which the Rebound Ace courts at Melbourne Park have been made faster -- that is, more likely to reward big servers (can you say, Andy Roddick?), big hitters (James Blake, anyone?) and precise shotmakers (what's that Swiss dude's name, Federal or something).
At this stage in the evolution of what was once a game dominated by serve-and-volley, net-attacking players, the development I would most welcome is faster courts. That Tennis Australia is said to have made the courts faster can't be interpreted as a sign of things to come in general (although it may end up being that), because TA had a simple goal in mind: provide a court speed that will most enhance Lleyton Hewitt's chance of winning the Australian Open. Regrettably, Hewitt may have too much turmoil on his plate to get the job done this year -- his coach, Roger Rasheed, just up and quit on him a week or so ago, having grown tired of Hewitt's abuse. "Fiery" (an adjective frequently used to describe Li'l Lleyton) is fine, as long as it isn't your face being scorched by the flames.
So Hewitt's stock is down as he tries to re-group with the help of dual-sport Scott Draper. (Draper, a solid player a few years ago, is flirting with making a real career on the pro golf tour.) Faster courts will help him, but not enough. Still, the rest of us will benefit if the Australian Open produces some great tennis -- and I'll be the first to admit that last year's tournament will be hard to beat -- on the faster courts.
Although I'm tempted to write that those benumbing (to some) rock fights at Wimbledon between people like Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic led to the slowing of the courts, it isn't entirely accurate. The trend has been going on for at least 15 years -- from about the time that the Lords of Tennis woke up with a bad hangover following the tennis boom and realized that they had to work constantly to make tennis more attractive to viewers in order to hold their attention. And those Prince-inspired oversized rackets made from increasingly exotic and powerful materials, scared the bee-jayzus out of them. They wanted a game with more rallies.
So over time, the courts -- even the traditionally fast outdoor hard courts that were the choice in the U.S. -- have been slowed down. One result has been the emergence of a kind of all-purpose clay-court style, based on hitting hard from the baseline. It's a style that can be exciting to watch, but the cost -- making serve-and-volley tennis increasingly difficult to play successfully -- has been too great.
Tennis is a better game when there are substantial stylistic differences in the way the pros play, and when surfaces vary significantly in speed. These days, the overwhelming majority of courts play more similarly than differently (grass is the exception, and even that has been slowed tremendously), and the game suffers for it.
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