Eddie Seaward, the head groundsman at the All England Club, has told The Tennis Space that it is myth that the grass courts at Wimbledon are slower than they used to be. “I don’t think the grass has slowed down – the ball still comes off the grass at the same speed.” What has changed, said Seaward, is that the ball now bounces a little higher and that helps when you are trying to return a 140mph serve.
Seaward on the speed of the court: “I don’t think the grass has slowed down. The ball still comes off the grass at the same speed. But, as the courts are a bit harder, the ball bounces a bit higher. The courts are a bit harder because of the grasses we use, and also because we prepare them that way. We wanted the hardness because we wanted the courts to be in just as good shape on day 13 as one day one, and that’s what we’ve got. If the ball comes at you at knee height at 140mph, you’ve got no chance or returning it. If it comes at you at chest height, you’ve got much more chance of getting the ball back into play. That’s why we’re getting the rallies.”
Seaward on the balance of power in tennis: “I came here in 1990 as head groundsman designate, and took over in 1991, and everyone then was saying that the serve was too dominant. Everyone was saying that grass-court tennis was finished, because it was just about the big serve. So we spoke to the players and coaches and said, ‘what do you want?’ And they said, ‘well, if you can slow the ball down by one tenth of a second, that would help’. That just shows how quick their reactions are, that that would make a difference.”
Seaward on feedback from the players: “You always feel a certain amount of pride out of that. The best bit is when we look at the courts on day one and say, ‘yes, we’ve done that’. It’s always nice to get on the court at the end of day one and see that it’s going to survive a fortnight. We’ve had a lot of positive comments over the years. We meet the players occasionally when they’re practising as they’re more relaxed then. We talk to the coaches. The coaches and players seem to be happy. When a player finishes a match, no matter what court they’re on, they are met by a member of the committee, or someone from the club, and at that stage they have the opportunity to make a formal complaint about the court. We haven’t had a complaint about any of the courts in the last eight years.”
