basically it's not the grass to blame but the players.
[quote**The art of the classic grass-courter has faded with the rise of hard courts – a surface that, as All England Club chairman Philip Brook put it last week, “is easy to maintain and easy to play on when it rains”. But which does not require the subtle hand skills and sure-footed poise of grass.[/quote]
and
player preferences:
this had me with Andujar pick and I'm pretty sure others with theirs:
and my fave phrase:
article is here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...e-surface.html, though I've pasted almost whole.
[quote**The art of the classic grass-courter has faded with the rise of hard courts – a surface that, as All England Club chairman Philip Brook put it last week, “is easy to maintain and easy to play on when it rains”. But which does not require the subtle hand skills and sure-footed poise of grass.[/quote]
and
Sergio Gomez-Cuesta, a biomechanical specialist at Gosling International High Performance Tennis Centre in Hertfordshire says: “Grass is the most demanding surface for most players, particularly if they have knee problems, because the ball skids through so low. Also it comes to you faster so you often have to hit the ball from a suboptimal position which puts more pressure through your joints.”
Each of them will have their own preference, surface-wise, depending on their physical issues. Murray, for instance, finds that the twisting and sliding of clay-court tennis plays havoc with his cranky back, whereas Rafael Nadal admitted after Monday’s defeat that grass had now become his equivalent of kryptonite.
the 62 per cent increase in first-round prize money this year – may have played a part in the record number of withdrawals we saw yesterday. It must be very tempting to go ahead and play that opening match, even in the knowledge that you will never be able to last the full fortnight, when you know you will receive £23,500 just for turning up.
As with the comments about the slippery grass, many of these players would be well advised to look in the mirror.
