Tennis Panorama Archives

Archives of TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013

TennisPanorama.com 2008-2013
  • Home
  • Tennis Panorama
You are here: Home / Contributors / Mixed Reactions to Court Speed at Australian Open

Mixed Reactions to Court Speed at Australian Open

January 11, 2014 By Tennis Panorama News

Nadal

Rafael Nadal

By Alana Mitchelson
(January 11, 2014) MELBOURNE – Players have had mixed reactions to the speed of Australian courts this Summer as the first Grand Slam of the 2014 tennis season approaches.
While Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley maintains that the court surfaces at Melbourne Park remain unchanged from last year’s event (as per the Sydney Morning Herald), a handful of players including some of the sport’s best have recently speculated that the courts feel faster than in previous years.
Among them, is a somewhat perplexed Rafael Nadal who remains adamant the court speed in Melbourne Park is significantly different to what it was two years ago when he was last here. He expressed his concern for the entertainment value of matches being affected by a potential change of pace.
“Completely different conditions to what I remember,” the World No. 1 said.
“These are faster conditions than I’ve ever played before here in Australia. I really don’t understand very well why the change because the last couple of years the Australian Open has had amazing matches – long ones, good ones for the crowd – so I don’t know who decided to make the conditions that fast. I don’t know if, for the show, it’s the best thing.
“I hope to adjust my game to these conditions.”
Roger Federer, on the other hand, has expressed his utter confusion over the whole court speed debate and acknowledged that while there may be inconsistencies in speed across tournaments, he personally feels no difference in conditions this year at Melbourne Park.
“I think even in these conditions here, we’ll see long rallies after all. We’re not talking about a lightning speed court. In Brisbane it was fast, but it wasn’t lightning either. This is like medium, if that. I don’t know what the big problem is. Really, you can still play from the baseline, no problem. You can stay back, return from the back, you can do all that stuff if you want to. It’s not like it’s impossible. And he (Nadal) even does it on the indoors where you don’t think that should be possible. That’s how he beat me in London anyway.”
Andy Murray has offered that these speculations may have eventuated from the extreme heat Melbourne has experienced over the past week and that the temperature is affecting the speed of the ball alone.
“Same (courts) as last year, exactly the same. Same balls. Same speed. Laver is a little bit faster than Hisense,” Murray said.
“The courts and the balls are exactly the same as last year. No different. When it’s 40 degrees, of course it’s going to play quicker. But the courts are the same.”
Alana Mitchelson is a Melbourne-based freelance journalist covering the Australian Open for Tennis Panorama News. Follow her tournament updates on Twitter @TennisNewsTPN and read her personal website http://alanamitchelson.wordpress.com

Filed Under: Contributors, Features, Front Page News, interviews, News Ticker, tennis news, tournament coverage, tournaments Tagged With: 2014 Australian Open, Alana Mitchelson, Andy Murray, Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, seeds, tennis, Tennis Panorama News

Archives

  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • March 2009
  • December 2008

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in