More players disappointed in new AO Plexicushion surface
Plexicushion is not going to get a break this year - media attention toward unfavorable comments about the surface has increased and just about the only fans of it left are Lleyton Hewitt and the Plexicushoion makers themselves. Weighing in this time around we have Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic, who experienced the surface at the Hopman Cup. Defendants of the surface (the manufacturer) have hinted that it will take time to “break in” the surface - in that case, I’d hope that was built into the installation time planned for the new surfaces in Melbourne.
Here’s what Jelena said: “I thought it was going to be faster but it seems to be a lot slower. It seems quite (a lot) slower than the Rebound Ace that I played on last year in Sydney and Melbourne. The balls get really fluffy. Here it’s indoors, so maybe it’s a bit of a different story. I don’t know how it will play outside.”
Djokovic was a bit more optimistic: “When the surface is new, it gets rough and it’s pretty slow, but after a couple of days or a week, it can get faster. We’ll see in a couple of days how it goes, but for now, it’s pretty slow.”
And Mardy Fish says that he just isn’t a fan of the surface.