Wimbledon’s Grass Courts Said to be Ready for Olympic Play

Written by: Staff on 27th July 2012

Wimbledon’s Grass Courts Said to be Ready for Olympic Play

epa03317221 General view of the Wimbledon tennis courts in London, Britain, 25 July 2012. Wimbledon, home of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, will be used for the Tennis competition of the London 2012 Olympic Games. EPA/MARIUS BECKER |

Since the All England Club was announced as the Olympic tennis venue for London 2012, one overriding question has continuously been asked; how will it be possible for the grass courts to be ready in the normally pristine condition with just three weeks recovery time following the Championships?

Head groundsman Eddie Seaward, who officially retires from the job on September 1, his appointed successor Neil Stubley and their 16-man full-time team should be the first medal winners of the Games.

Apart from the Olympic branding, which some call pink and others purple, the setting, and most importantly the court surfaces, are immaculate.

Incredibly impressive, was the verdict of Roger Federer, the man who knows the playing qualities Centre Court better than anyone and won his seventh Wimbledon title on that very lawn just 19 days ago.

Andy Murray, the beaten finalist echoed the sentiments. The groundsmen have done an unbelievable job, said the Scot. Everyone was concerned as there has never been such a quick turnaround but the courts are great.

By virtue of the roof and several late night finishes, Centre Court had 83 hours of play during the Championships this year, the most in its history. But on all match courts and those designated simply for practice, the scarred areas behind the baseline have vanished, thanks to the planting of pre-germinated seeds.

The Centre is the worst-case scenario court because it’s the last one that’s used and its the first one we need to renovate, Stubley said. When we explain what we are doing, there is a bit of a wow factor.

We have been trailing different ways of germinating the grass and how we can get it established for two years. We paired the practice courts up after the Championships and worked through a dozen different scenarios.

The advancement in technology has helped but the All England Club ground grew has also dipped into their vast knowledge when it comes to good old fashioned gardening techniques.

Stubley continued: We use a rye grass that would normally take seven to ten days to germinate. We got the seed, put it in a dustbin which we filled with hot water, as hot as your hand could bear, left it for two hours to soak it up, put a rooting hormone compound in with the water, drained the water off so the seed is sitting in the hot tub and put it into an even hotter room for 48 hours and it fermented.

So by the time we planted that seed on to the baseline it was already starting to grow rather than having to wait for seven to ten days.

We pre-empted when the courts would become free and two days before we would start the process on the courts. In 17 days we have clawed back ten days artificially, so by Saturday, from the camera angle on TV, it will look exactly the way it does on the first day of the Championships.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: All England Club, Roger Federer, Sports, Wimbledon grass court, Wimbledon tennis news