@theonejoeyd
As I type this, Andy Murray has just defeated a brave, gritty David Ferrer 2-6 6-4 7-6(1) in the final of the Miami Masters saving a match point in the twelfth game of the third set. It was a mental triumph for the Scot who has gathered his ninth Masters Series trophy and 26th career title.
But that does not tell the whole tale. In just under three hours in sweltering heat and brutal humidity, both players played some long, lethal, joint-damaging points. The combination is deadly and potentially career shortening, the more matches of this type we see on court.
Ferrer was cramping in the decisive tie-break and Murray himself suffered from considerably inhibited movement in the whole of the third set. Because the bounce of the court is so sticky and high, it was impossible to construct points with winning tennis because the ball kept returning over the net like a game of Pong. When you combine that with the conditions both men had to handle this afternoon, and the pain they felt at the end of the match, you know something simply must be done.
Murray himself received a violation for breaking the rule of 25 seconds maximum in between points in the tie-break because he was so dead on his feet. The rule can make sense but not in a situation of that magnitude.
Tennis is a sport, a form of entertainment that we all want to enjoy. But we do not want to turn it into an inhumane brand of barbarism. These guys care and want to win prestigious championships and prize money but by putting down ultra-slow courts week in week out, we are causing harm to their bodies.
Back in the 1990s there were some extremely quick surfaces which favoured those with gigantic serves who would rush to the net to put away any returns that flew over. This is the reason the ATP have given for slowing down the majority of the courts on the tour today even though there were still some slow tournaments back then such as Miami (albeit a bit quicker than current Miami) and the clay courts were still as gritty, high bouncing and brutal as they are now. So why replace the beautiful spectrum of diversity, with a status quo that favours the same players who no longer have to adapt and overcome conditions disadvantageous to their style of play?
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are two of the greatest champions in sporting history, let alone tennis. Their achievements, fanbase and aura are beyond question and the quality of their play over the years has been nothing short of scintillating. They have tasted success in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York- meaning they have achieved a career Grand Slam. Phenomenal. But would they have found it more difficult to complete the set if the hard, clay and grass courts had been more diverse in speed? Novak Djokovic only needs a Roland Garros victory to join them in that pantheon. Yet Andre Agassi is the only other man in the Open Era, which began in 1968, to accomplish the Career Slam, and Rod Laver the last man to do it before him, prior to the Open Era.
Federer at least, is not a player who favours long rallies featuring miraculous defending. He is an elegant first-strike player, who prefers to shorten points. And he himself stated in November during the ATP World Tour Finals, that he was against surface homogenisation: “Just make quicker courts, then it’s hard to defend. Then attacking style is more important.
“I think sometimes quicker courts do help the cause. I think it would help from time to time to move to something faster. That would help players learn different styles, to realise that coming to the net is a good thing, not a bad thing.
“I’ve played on all different speeds. But I think some variety would be nice, some really slow stuff and then some really fast stuff, instead of trying to make everything sort of the same.
“You sort of protect the top guys really by doing that because you have the best possible chance to have them in the semis at this point. But should that be the goal? I’m not sure."
Now it would be the simplistic option to accuse Federer of being selfish because at his age of 31, the most realistic opportunity for him to overcome rock-solid athletes like Rafa, Novak and also Andy Murray (who despite possessing outstanding defensive ability and immense anticipation tends to be far more exciting to watch on a quicker court than an ultra-slow one) are faster, low-bouncing conditions.
Roger is absolutely spot on. Now in 2013 we have a mammoth personality-filled top end of the game with legends like himself and Rafa, and also guys like Djokovic, Murray and Del Potro winning grand slam titles, but it is a lot easier for the status quo to remain as it is because of the way the surfaces are laid down.
Players with big serves, sumptuous ball-striking and extravagant net techniques are being short changed because there are so few tournaments for them to accumulate ranking points or achieve any major tournament success. Whilst the ATP continues to advocate its homogenisation of the tour, tennis becomes a game of fitness, endurance and conditioning rather than all-court skill, when there should be a combination of everything- there's that diversity word again.
Hard courts are the worst surface to be playing marathon slugfests on, too. Some of the physical grind-a-thons that Rafael Nadal has been involved in are most probably a significant contribution to his chronic knee problems. While these hard courts continue to operate at the speed they are on, we are only risking the loss of these outstanding players to retirement at a young age.
Hard courts are the worst surface to be playing marathon slugfests on, too. Some of the physical grind-a-thons that Rafael Nadal has been involved in are most probably a significant contribution to his chronic knee problems. While these hard courts continue to operate at the speed they are on, we are only risking the loss of these outstanding players to retirement at a young age.
So my plea to the ATP is this: Speed up hard courts, for the sake of the sport of tennis. It will benefit everybody- players and spectators alike. It will prolong the careers of players who entertain us all, and also provide us fans with more diverse tennis, with a chance for all playing styles to excel. I am not demanding ice rinks where the serve flies out of the stadium at 300mph, I just do not want to see matches like today's where both Andy and David looked like they were about to die during the trophy presentation.
Former US Open champion Andy Roddick and current pro Ivo Karlovic both agree with me too having tweeted the exact same concerns. I only hope their voices prove to hold a more sizeable weight than an ordinary follower of the sport like myself.
