#NewsBytesExplainer: Decoding the impact of different tennis courts
The game of tennis is played on different types of courts. A number of surfaces with different characteristics can be used to design a court. These characteristics directly impact the playing style of the game. As many as three courts are used in professional tennis - hard, clay, and grass. Let us decode the impact of different tennis courts.
The dynamics of hard court
A hard court is made of concrete and has a covering of acrylic surface layer. This layer provides a greater bounce, which is more than clay but less than grass. The bounce on hard courts is usually more predictable as they are made of rigid material which is uniform. Two of the four Grand Slams, the US Open and Australian Open, use this court.
The difference in surface of Australian Open and US Open
Both Australian Open and US Open are played on different hard courts. The Melbourne Park (venue of Australian Open) uses Plexicushion (acrylic-based hard-court tennis surface). After the 2019 edition, it changed its official court surface supplier to 'GreenSet Worldwide'. On the other hand, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center has been using Laykold hard courts.
French Open uses clay court
Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone, or brick. These courts slow down the ball, which in turn bounces high. Hence, a sturdy baseline player gets more assistance. There are two variants of clay court - Red clay court (made of crushed brick) and Green clay court (made of crushed metabasalt). The French Open is the only major tournament to use clay courts.
The fastest courts in tennis
The grass courts are deemed the fastest in tennis. They are covered with grass which is grown on hard-packed soil. Such courts are less common anywhere apart from professional circuit due to maintenance issues. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam played on this surface presently. However, the US Open (1881-1974) and Australian Open (1905-1987) have also used grass courts historically.
ATP and WTA events don't use carpet courts anymore
As the name suggests, carpet courts make use of removable covering. The material of the surface varies in terms of thickness and texture. These courts usually have a fast surface with low bounce. Their use has been discontinued since 2009 in top-tier ATP tournaments. Similarly, the WTA Tour's last tournament on carpet court was held in 2018.
