Home > Tennis > More Wimbledon please! Why the grass-court season isn't nearly long enough
by Chris Goldsmith on 06 July 2008
Email this Article (0) Comments
Free £25 bet when you register at
Is it just me or does everyone else love it when the grass-court tennis season starts? The sight of players on a bright green court just fills my mind with positive conotations of summer, hot weather and strawberries. OK, so we are not always guaranteed the hot weather and are often plagued by many rain showers, but the tennis is simply brilliant.
To many players grass is a foreign surface as only around four weeks are dedicated to playing on it. Some players in the past have simply avoided it altogether, prefering to practise at home rather than play on a surface which Marat Safin one described "only fit for cows". He reached the semis at Wimbledon this year so he must have grown to like it!
The UK is the main hub for the grass tournaments, however a few have cropped up in Europe - for instance in Halle, Germany, and also Newport, Rhode Island, in the USA. The tour needs more grass tournaments around the world as I am sure you will agree it makes for brilliant viewing on the TV and as a spectator at the tournaments.
It all starts in the first tournament in Surbiton, London, during the second week of Roland Garros. The tournament is small compared to many on the tour but it's the first chance to glimpse the grass-court tennis in the season and the atmosphere is more relaxed than most major tournaments.
After Surbiton the WTA tour moves on to Edgbaston in Birmingham, while the Stella Artois gets under way in London for the men. I watched the final of the Stella Artois between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and what a match it was. Quality tennis, bright sunshine, middle-class crowds packed into the stadium, what a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon. Only one more week to Wimbledon!
Eastbourne is next for the women and we see a terrific final between Agnieska Radwanska of Poland and veteran Russian Nadia Petrova. Another classic grass-court match full of twists and turns and gasps from the crowd. Simply a brilliant way to build up to the world's biggest and best tennis tournament at SW19 - of course Wimbledon.
The weather has mainly stayed fine for the Wimbledon two weeks. Only a few delays have been caused by heavy showers and, although the men's final could well be interupted, on the whole the organisers cannot complain - and neither can the fans. They have seen some terrific matches.
Grass is a real leveller amongst players and so upsets have been plentiful. Of course, being a Brit, my throat is sore from cheering on Andy Murray and Laura Robson in the girls' singles, but any grass-court match is great to watch, even as a neutral.
Even doubles and mixed doubles are a pleasure to watch on the green surface with everyone seemingly having fun trying to get to grips with the surface, even if they are losing. I for one am going to be sad that Wimbledon is over for another year and that the grass-court season is over with before it really has started.
Too much emphasis is on promoting clay and hard-court tennis and grass has been left behind. Before I was a tennis fan I read that there used to be more grass courts in Australia, for instance, and I would love to see them making a comeback.
Grass really helps make us see who the real champions are as it is often seen as the most difficult of surfaces to play on, mainly because it is an unknown surface. Ask most players and Wimbledon is one of the best tournaments of the year, to many it is THE best. Please, WTA and ATP, bring back more grass-court tennis to the circuits!
Comments (0)
Add your comment here
PERSONAL ABUSE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED
First Name
Last Name
Email
Heading
Display your favourite sport or football team badge with your comment.
Sport
League
Team
Comment *
Please enter the text you see in the picture into the textbox below. *
Capello no closer to finding England's winning formula
Usain Bolt's greatest achievement... putting Michael Phelps in the shade
Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian but NOT the greatest sportsman
Arsenal Aston Villa Barcelona Chelsea Everton Football Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Portsmouth Real Madrid Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United
© SportBuzz All rights reserved 2008 Sportingo- Sports News & Sports Articles site. Sportingo delivers fresh sports news and analysis by fans-Football News, Tennis News, Rugby Union News, Rugby League, Cricket News, Cycling News, Basketball News and other Sports TV. XML Sitemap 2008.