The courts in Melbourne surprised with high speed last year, especially in the Rod Laver Arena. Only tournament boss Craig Tiley promised that nothing will change in 2018.
The Australian Open 2017 was for many the best major tournament in a long time: surprises (Djokovic-Off in Round Two, Mischa Zverev’s victory over Andy Murray in the last sixteen), spectacular tennis (such as the semi-final between Grigor Dimitrov and Rafael Nadal), the retro revival (Federer against Nadal in the final)… And many people believed that the faster places were responsible for this.
Which, in turn, was only unintentionally the case: The Showcourts had been equipped with the new covering a little earlier in the previous edition than usual; and the longer the acrylic surface lies on the plexicushion covering, the faster it becomes. Result: The places in 2017 were already at the beginning of the tournament as fast as the places in 2016 at the end.
Craig Tiley now assured that this will not change, so the players should be prepared for a “medium-fast” floor covering. He also made it clear:”The best players always find a way to make it to the finals, no matter what the surface is.”
Tiley added that it was more difficult to rebuild the courses than expected. The sun, the way you apply the surface, even the angle at which you brush it – all that makes a difference.”We have to make 51 places, it’s almost impossible to get the same speed everywhere.”
The first thing that players and coaches notice is the speed – as he said in his long time in the tennis business,”When I walk around on the first day Roger or Rafa train and look into their eyes, I know exactly what they’re going to tell me,” Tiley says,”We’ve prepared the courts just as we did last year, and most players liked the Bel.