Controversy has already sprung up concerning the decision to change surfaces. Much of the controversy stems from the fact that the plexicushion surface is very similar to DecoTurf, the surface currently used at another Grand Slam, the U.S. Open. Rebound Ace Spokesman Paul Bull has stated that "we had an Australian icon event with a unique Australian product and now we are just going to become a clone of the US Open." [1]
"It's just the US Open surface under a different name, so we will become a clone of the US Open. Same horse, different jockey," said Bull. "This is really just a hard court - it will be exactly the same for all practical purposes. In four or five years...the cushioning disappears because you can't maintain it using this system." [2]
The main distinction between Rebound Ace and Plexicushion is that balls on Rebound Ace bounce slighter higher and slower. Some believe that the U.S. hardcourts are faster or of a similar speed to grass courts[3] whereas Rebound Ace is undoubtably slower.
Now all slams are on fast surfaces except for Roland Garros. This really isn't good for the game and Rebound Ace bridged the gap between red clay and decoturf, ultimately they've just taken even more variety out of the slams and the game.
Actually Wimbledon is pretty slow now too...but it would be nice if they could have a surface that would be different from the USO's court without posing injury problems for the players.
The guy complaining in Jimnik's quote works for Rebound Ace, so of course he'll be unhappy with the change. Have any of the players said that the surfaces are too similar? My impression is that many players were happy to get rid of Rebound Ace because of the injury/heat retention problem and weren't too concerned about what replaces it, much less how much it resembles DecoTurf II. And can't they just make Plexicushion faster by manipulating the top dressing, just as they do with DecoTurf?
I would have preferred fast clay. This is an all right change, although I am bothered by the comment that it's a clone of the New York hard court. The Aussie had a bit of an identity with the rebound ace at least - now I'm not sure what we've got down under.
But I'm all for more fast hardcourts. I can't stand watching Indian Wells and Miami anymore with those ridiculous bounces. Switch one of those to clay at least so that the bounces are somewhat justified.
But I'm all for more fast hardcourts. I can't stand watching Indian Wells and Miami anymore with those ridiculous bounces. Switch one of those to clay at least so that the bounces are somewhat justified.
Yes, that really makes a lot of sense. Do you really believe that going straight from a hardcourt to clay the next week or vice versa, is a good idea? That seems pretty dumb to me.
Faster clay at the French Open, slower grass at Wimbledon, and now a faster hardcourt at the Australian Open, almost similar to surface used at Flushing Meadows. The variety between the different surfaces continues to diminish. What an utter disgrace and complete joke.
Rebound ace and decoturf are hardly similar, and that's essentially what they're replacing it with. But as GWH said, we'll have to wait until January to know for sure.
i wish they didnt slow down wimbledon, they should have just let everything like it was in the ninetees, i dont like changes. this one maybe good tho as they have made it faster and not slower
Miami uses Laykold Cushion-Plus System. Is that the same as plexicusion? Indian Wells is plexipave which I'm assuming is not much different than plexicushion as they're made by the same company.
Well I much prefer faster surfaces to slower ones. But I like the fact tennis has varity and courts have different speeds. This varity is all but dead now, and I doubt the speed of the court will be THAT much different from rebound ace.
The Australian Open will still remain a better grand slam than the US Open regardless of the surface, with better crowds drumming up a more festive atmosphere, and superior facilities.
That spoiled Agassi-Blake and Sargsian-Mathieu for me, thank god Agassi broke Baghdatis last game last year or else it would have been a ridiculous end.
Well what happened in the mid 90s with grass and the indoor events with their serve fests, more powerful players than before with better equipment, lighter balls and fast surfaces.
Those indoor events, might as well have played in an ice rink and just started at the TB.
Aha, I figured this is what you were going for. I guess there was no way to scale down the equipment so they decided to mess with the surfaces? That's a shame.
I have to say, though, that the best hardcourt tennis I tend to see year to year is at the US Open - which is a fast hardcourt (great rallies and all in all a better pace to matches than at the 'holy' Wimbledon). Conversely, Indian Wells and Miami are barely tolerable.
For this reason I don't mind the surface change at the Aussie too much. This is knowing that no plans to use a natural surface were ever in place.
I'd be curious to see how modern equipment would react to green clay. I want to see it. I don't know why I'm being deprived of this.
Rebound Ace was a very nice surface to watch matches on, I would say about the right mixture of speed and performance of fast/versus hard. It's a real shame
"If you look at aerial photos in all the annuals, you can see how the pattern of wear on the courts has changed in recent years," said Mark Cox, a Cambridge-educated top English player in the 1960s and '70s. "Now you get this path worn along the baseline, and some mild discoloration on the path to the net. You used to have these great furrows into the net, but there are very few serve-volleyers anymore.
"I don't think the courts are actually slower, but the most noticeable thing is that the return of serve is regularly between the waist and the shoulder rather than between the waist and the knee. That alters the whole perspective of the game. Now the players with extreme grips can get a crack at the ball, whereas in my day you had to use a continental grip to get low and underneath the ball. The ball doesn't skid as much off this grass, either. You're not always lunging for a low volley or half-volley, and you don't have the bad bounces that made players not want to risk letting the ball bounce at all. We had to serve-and-volley. Players have other options now."
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Mens Tennis Forums
18.5M posts
88K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to male tennis players and enthusiasts. Talk about everything from the ATP, NSMTA, to college Tennis and even everything about equipment. It's all here!