Report: Aussie Open courts suck even more than the last ones
Now no one has anything positive to say about the new court surface set to make its Grand Slam debut at the 2008 Australian Open…
Concerns over the controversial decision to tear up the former courts and replace them with an unproven new surface is escalating, following injuries to Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic, a scathing attack from the supplier of the old courts and fears the global tournament will be played on surfaces even slower than those deemed unworthy of Melbourne Park.
The winner of the Australian Open wildcard play-offs, Victorian Joseph Sirianni, told The Sun-Herald yesterday the courts were “like sandpaper” during his four-set victory over Adam Feeney in the final at the Rod Laver Arena.
Sirianni liked the new electric blue courts but he’s a baseliner who thinks the slower, the better.
The whole idea of ripping up the 20-year-old Rebound Ace courts and replacing them at a high six-figure cost was to give Lleyton Hewitt and most of the other players what they wanted - a sleek surface nearly as fast as that used at the US Open.
So far, no dice.
“They’re slow at the moment,” Sirianni said. “It will speed up once players come in from overseas and practise on them. There are still a few weeks before the Open and they’ll get worn in.
“That’s the expectation as more and more people get to play on them. The balls are fluffing up a lot at the moment. I mean the court surface, because it’s a new court, it’s a bit rough. It’s like sandpaper.”
Which is not the picture being painted by Tennis Australia, whose boss Craig Tiley has been claiming Plexicushion - installed in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars - is markedly superior to Rebound Ace in consistency, speed and heat retention.
But after biting his tongue for a few months while Tiley talked up Plexicushion, the managing director of Rebound Ace Sports, Chris Canty, finally fired back, saying those claims are false.
“For the first time in 20 years the 2008 Australian Open will not be played on an Australian court surface,” Canty said. “In May Tennis Australia announced that it would replace Rebound Ace as the court surface supplier with American-manufactured Plexicushion Prestige.
“All criticisms about the Rebound Ace surface at Melbourne Park have been based on courts that are up to 20 years old.
Sydney Morning Herald
If they want courts as fast as those at the US Open, why don’t they put in the same damn court surface as that of the US Open?