The Man Of The Hour Is Wimbledon’s Head Grounds Man

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 28th June 2013

The Man Of The Hour Is Wimbledon’s Head Grounds Man

epa03763212 The covers come out on a show court as rain interrupts play on the third day of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 27 June 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

After a first four days of slips, tumbles and major upsets on the All England Club’s much debated grass, the most in-demand person still involved in Wimbledon was not British favorite Andy Murray, or world no.1’s Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic but new head grounds man Neil Stubley.

True to tradition the All England’s committee of management were not prepared to let Stubley face the full interrogation of the world’s press of accusations of court surfaces being dangerous were leveled by the ousted Maria Sharapova and the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all suffering fall-related injuries. Instead, Stubley was instructed to do a video interview with the All England Club/IMG owned Live@Wimbledon.

And Stubley, who succeeded Eddie Seaward as the head man in nurturing the famed Wimbledon grass insisted he was 100% happy with his work. “We are still confident that we are still producing the best tennis courts in the world,” said Stubley who worked for several years on Seaward’s staff after being handed the main job following last year’s Olympic Games.

Stubley was understandably guarded against responding to the thoughts of Sharapova and others but he made the valid point that the south of England suffered its’ coldest winter and wettest spring in more than 50 years. The sun has been an infrequent visitor to the tournament, but humidity has been persistent, meaning the courts may not have dried out.

His response to the criticism was to say: “It’s part of the job working at a high profile event. We are under the spotlight. We will take it on the chin.”

Insisting the courts are still 100% Perennial Ryegrass and not a 70%-30% mix of Rye and Creeping Red Fescue that was once employed more than a decade ago, Stubley reiterated his team is comprised of 15 full-time professionals who look after the playing surfaces and preparation, as always, has been meticulous.

He maintained the courts are covered only for the Championships and said: “Also during the build-up period, if playing on grass is likely to create problems, then the hard courts only are used by members. We don’t take any chances.

“It would be wrong to highlight the Championships as the time of year when the courts receive our fullest attention. We apply ourselves in the same way all round and, of course, the maintenance required by each court varies depending on its level of use. For us, as soon as the Olympics finished, preparations started for this year’s event.”

On Thursday the French pairing of Michael Llodra and Paul-Henri Mathieu joined the long list of players forced to pull out of the singles through injury. However Llodra later managed to play, and win, a doubles match with partner Nicolas Mahut..

The All England Club chief executive Richard Lewis maintained the lawns were “as they should be”. He said: “The court preparation has been to exactly the same meticulous standard as in previous years and it is well known that grass surfaces tend to be more lush at the start of an event,”

Tony Smith, an award-winning garden designer, said the grass is so lush at this stage because everything is around three weeks behind because of the harsh winter and spring weather.

Helen Yemm, a gardening writer for The Telegraph, said London has been more humid than usual in recent weeks with up to 62% moisture in the air. “Everybody’s lawn is much greener now than it normally would be because of the build up of water in the soil,” she said.

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superslamtennis says:

June 28, 2013 at 11:24 am

RT @10sBalls_com: The Man Of The Hour Is Wimbledon’s Head Grounds Man: After a first four days of slips, tumbles and ma… http://t.co/QFFK…