Mens Tennis Forums banner

Vote for speeding up the courts or against it!

  • Speed up the courts

    Votes: 356 78.8%
  • Leave them as they are

    Votes: 96 21.2%

"Speed up the courts and general court speed Thread"

149K views 2K replies 436 participants last post by  kafkavert 
#1 ·
A few weeks ago I watched some old matches of James Blake including encounters against Kiefer (Vienna 2002), Agassi (Washington 2002), Safin (Hopman Cup 2004) and Moya (Indian Wells 2003) and it is quite obvious that today's game is far slower than it was then. James was able to generate direct winners off the forehand wing, whereas currently he has to fire his forehand at least two or three times to end the point. I just wonder whether his shots are less powerful now but looking at the shot and serve speeds it is probably not the reason. He uses the same frame as back then in 2002 or 2003, therefore it shouldn't be blamed on the technology of rackets. So what's the main reason - the balls or changes in surface? Or maybe James game is simply slower?
 
#623 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

Fish is spot on.

It doesn't help the players' health either as Nadal's pullout testifies. Slower than ass hard courts kill joints and damage limbs. Get rid.
nadal would himself like the surfaces faster.....his top spin forehands won't sit up to get spanked on fast courts and his serve slides away on slick surfaces making it more difficult.....he is at his best when on the run and defending.....slow surfaces don't benefit him as much as people think.....

he is a player who got rid of karlovic on fast grass of queen's club as early as in 2007.....he will still have some trouble returning players like karlovic on fast courts but he proved in the past that with sustained match play on fast courts, he is capable of winning.....

for nadal if the court is faster,

serve: asset

ros: liability which can be overcome upon practice and match play.....

forehand: asset

backhand: real asset, they will push him to pass off that wing and
he's at his best doing that.....if you give him time, he will dump it in the net......

attack: neutral

defense: should we even talk about the greatest retriever ever's defense?
 
#621 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

Have the balls changed at Wimbledon? If so, when did they change and what from?
 
#622 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

atp are not interested in going back to 70 minute finishes for best of 3 sets matches like in the 90s and early 00s......the situation has gotten out of control......they need 2 1/2 or 3 hour finishes every match.....all the leading sponsors would ditch them and run after some other sport if the courts are sped up again and match lengths are shortened......

it's all sad but that's the way it is......they have stretched the glorification of the sport part too far.....they sacrificed surface variety, tennis styles and unpredictability to expand the reach of the sport, increase the match length for commercial reasons and build a huge global following through the superstars they created......

it's now very hard to get back to old times......technology is another thing which has such a huge influence......

i don't think slams are still that bad......french open is actually faster and us open is fast as always, last year it took some time to speed up and threw an impression that it was slow.....if anything it's wimbledon which was slowed down a little but still it's great for good servers......
 
#624 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

Wimbledon and US Open are getting slower, tertible. Where are attacking players gonna go to earn points? Mardy was so correct but lets forget about the big players at the moment. Players coming through and those which have just established themselves who are attacking minded will have no chance to earn points if all the top level surfaces are slower than tar rolling on a subtle incline. The ATP are developing a playing style amongst all youth players now which, if continues to go this way will just result in one type of player: Baseliner with double handed backhand. Nothing will be unique, it will basically come down to who can last longer, e.g. Aussie Open final. It's very exciting every now and then to see a marathon iron man match. But for the sake of variety, flare, beauty and above all the health of ALL tennis players, they HAVE to speed up a good portion of the hardcourts and the Grass. It does no one favours running back and forth for hours on end. It's destroying careers, and probably ending ones before they have even begun. It's good to have a mix, slow hard courts are great but so are fast, ATP surely realise that tennis fans go beyond the people they get through the gate?

Greed ruins everything.
 
#632 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

During the weekend I've heard quite a bit of talk from tennis people on major TV networks complaining about these hard courts being way too slow and getting tired of the brand of tennis that they apply to.

One can only hope.
Last year Shanghai was changed to medium-quickish after a super slow year the one before. I think we're headed to a similar backlash like the one in the 90s if this keeps on going.
 
#633 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

During the weekend I've heard quite a bit of talk from tennis people on major TV networks complaining about these hard courts being way too slow and getting tired of the brand of tennis that they apply to.

One can only hope.
Last year Shanghai was changed to medium-quickish after a super slow year the one before. I think we're headed to a similar backlash like the one in the 90s if this keeps on going.
Yep, they were complaining about court/ball speeds on Eurosport.
 
#635 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

Look.
MTF is full of idiots, that's true.
But, you have to know, at least, something about tennis if you want to register here.
And 86% of MTFerers, or I think we can say. 86% of tennis fans want this problem to finish.

The people is constantly speaking here. We want to speed up the courts.
 
#642 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

Look.
MTF is full of idiots, that's true.
But, you have to know, at least, something about tennis if you want to register here.
And 86% of MTFerers, or I think we can say. 86% of tennis fans want this problem to finish.

The people is constantly speaking here. We want to speed up the courts.
86% of MTF =/= 86% of tennis fans

Most tennis fans are casual and don't even notice any difference. You'd be gullible if you thought MTF represents most of tennis fans.
 
#639 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

fed fans know the majority of opponents have mediocre wing span movement and predictable serves on fast courts too.
the difference is there are 2 great players who will let fed
slice & dissect himself & lose.
 
#640 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

While the courts do need to be sped up, I would prefer it if they brought variety into the game. There's no way that 3 people in the space of 4 years gets CGS's (assuming Djoker wins the French).

Way it should go:

January - March: Slow hards (AO, Miami, IW)
April - June: Clay, preferably slower than before.
June - July: Grass, quicker and low-bouncing.
August - September: US hard courts, quick.
September - October: Asian hard courts, ultra quick.
October - November: Indoor hards, ultra quick (though I wouldn't care if the WTF was a bit slower as it should be balanced for everyone IMO)
 
#641 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

..

Miami courts too slow
By Greg Rusedski
April 3, 2012

The match lasted over two hours for two sets because the balls and courts were too slow.

The ATP needs to either speed up the ball or speed up the court because we are not getting enough variety in tennis. All the players are playing long baseline rallies with players rarely go to the net. We need more variety of play in tennis, all types of court players; servers and volleyers, and baseliners. This needs to be addressed by the ATP tour.


http://blogs.reuters.com/sport/2012/04/03/miami-courts-too-slow-rusedski/
 
#644 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

We can discuss about the need of speeding up the courts as much as we desire, yet this won't induce anybody from the ATP board do change anything.
Tennis is not a discipline like it once was, nowadays we can observe only shades from the ancient gentlemen's game, spectators find no interest in quick, winners-filled matches, they rather prefer endless grindfests with blood and pain on court.
The speed up adherents appear apparently as the vast minority without any power to exact changes this sport desperately requires.
Otherwise, tennis is going to frequently lose popularity and eventually become a secondary sport for gamblers.
 
#645 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

We can discuss about the need of speeding up the courts as much as we desire, yet this won't induce anybody from the ATP board do change anything.
Tennis is not a discipline like it once was, nowadays we can observe only shades from the ancient gentlemen's game, spectators find no interest in quick, winners-filled matches, they rather prefer endless grindfests with blood and pain on court.
The speed up adherents appear apparently as the vast minority without any power to exact changes this sport desperately requires.
Otherwise, tennis is going to frequently lose popularity and eventually become a secondary sport for gamblers.
Not even that.

All of the top players, on any surface, have shit odds every match. It's impossible to make a profit on them. Only decent money I've made on tennis this year was Nadull over Fed at 13/8 AO semi finals and Nadull at 4-6 3-4 down also at 13/8 in-play against Nalbandian.
 
#646 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

99% of players are also incapable of closing the net. They have shit volleys, and crap their pants at the thought of having to hit a volley vs. an opponent's passing shot. I don't think the slow courts are the issue so much as lack of variety of play from the players. If you have even decent volleys, good approach shots, and some semblance of net closing angles, it is still possible to play an aggressive game, even on these courts. Angles, baby, angles.

Saying the courts are too slow and the balls too slow to play an aggressive game is too easy, even though it may be true. Fight through it.
 
#647 ·
Re: "Speed up the courts" thread

99% of players are also incapable of closing the net. They have shit volleys, and crap their pants at the thought of having to hit a volley vs. an opponent's passing shot. I don't think the slow courts are the issue so much as lack of variety of play from the players. If you have even decent volleys, good approach shots, and some semblance of net closing angles, it is still possible to play an aggressive game, even on these courts. Angles, baby, angles.

Saying the courts are too slow and the balls too slow to play an aggressive game is too easy, even though it may be true. Fight through it.
Now it all makes sense why you can't even win Futures matches.
 
#651 ·
Madrid faster than some hard court events?

Just watching Verdasco - Nadal and Rafa has to play numerous baseline demi voleys after Nando's returns, which is :eek:

Despite the ball bouncing much higher than hard courts, it goes with quite a speed through the air and surface and makes it look at least faster than AO for example.

What do u think?
 
#652 ·
Re: Madrid faster than some hard court events?

Just watching Verdasco - Nadal and Rafa has to play numerous baseline demi voleys after Nando's returns, which is :eek:

Despite the ball bouncing much higher than hard courts, it goes with quite a speed through the air and surface and makes it look at least faster than AO for example.

Serve hold %s

Australian Open 76.3%
Madrid 2009/2010/2011 78.3%
Madrid 2012 81.4%


The highest hard court figure is Cincy at 82.1%. Blue-Madrid is higher than all the others, and indeed higher than half of indoor courts.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top