Rallies are shorter. Because movement is so different, players wear special grass-court shoes, with protection on the outside of the shoes. But at Wimbledon, players have to wear shoes with a completely flat sole, to avoid damaging the grass. Aggressive tennis is rewarded on grass more than on any other surface.
Traditionally, serve and volley tennis has been the route to success, with returners having less time to react to the serve and good volleyers able to dominate the forecourt.
But in recent years, with changes to the make-up of the grass, baseline tennis has begun to dominate. In , stung by criticism that the game had become too boring, because of the domination of big servers, Wimbledon chose to make some changes to its grass. The changes made the surface more durable, and harder, which allowed the ball to bounce higher, more helpful to baseliners. In the Wimbledon final, Goran Ivanisevic and Pat Rafter served and volleyed on every first and second serve ; in the final, the only time Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian went to the net was when they shook hands at the end of the match.
Many grasses evolved in tandem with grazing animals like sheep and cattle, which trampled and cropped down the leafy blades as they ate their way across the landscape. So, grasses evolved to grow back from the barest nub of green left behind—evolving, essentially, to be mowed. The short, dense, glossy turf that blankets the Wimbledon courts has its roots in the maritime climate of the British Isles.
Ancient farmers let their livestock graze on native meadows, often centering their towns on a common grazing area. Eventually, these central, close-mown meadows became sites for sports and recreation. By the time of the first All England Lawn Tennis Championship in , the sport had graduated to its own specially designated grassy swards.
Early Wimbledon grass was a mix of native species, planted carefully atop a firm soil surface and trimmed by a horse dragging a small mower. But the turf was unruly. Dandelions and daisies would sometimes pop up, fairy rings occasionally bloomed, and the constant wear from players skipping across the grass meant it had to be replaced often. In , when the club moved to its current location just a few miles down the road, groundskeepers brought in strips of turf from a seaside town miles to the north to cloak its new courts.
But no one wanted to haul tons of turf hundreds of miles each year, so the team started its own turf nurseries, havens for the perfect green grass. By the midth century, agricultural sciences were booming, and the sports world benefited. Researchers around the world were looking carefully at how to breed and manage grasses to make them more nutritious for grazing animals; more resistant to pests; faster growing; ever greener; and more perfect for lawns and fodder.
They tested pesticides to kill worms and herbicides to kill the daisies, new soil mixes to change the firmness of the ground which affects how high the ball bounces , and fertilizers to make the grass grow faster, greener, more predictably.
A test-run of fireworks at Maracana Stadium lights up the sky before the Games in Rio de Janeiro. But the key work started when they realized they could pick and choose the grass itself. Also rich in nitrogen, it makes your existing grass an envy-inducing emerald green, whilst also protecting your lawn against drought.
We have multiple mixes that will give you that world class Wimbledon look! Neil Stubley, Head of Courts and Horticulture at Wimbledon has said that for domestic use a blend of chewings fescue, strong and slender creeping red fescue and browntop will also work well. Funnily enough, we have those mixes too! Players at Wimbledon may be well used to an 8mm lawn, but for us at home it may be a little bit too short!
For an ornamental lawn, the ideal mowing height is mm, this helps to protect the lawn from drought during the warmer months, as the longer blades retain the water. The courts at Wimbledon are mown three times a week , but we suggest that you mow the grass when it reaches around 30mm, to maintain the 25mm and give it adequate time to grow again.
Lawn tennis originated back in the 19th century in Leamington Spa when Thomas Henry Gem and Juan Bautista Augurio Perera started the worlds very first lawn tennis association. It was Gem and Perera who created a new set of rules for a racket sport. The rules were inspired by the traditional game of rackets and the Spanish ball game called pelota, and it was originally played on a croquet lawn. The credit for the invention of tennis was actually to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, as four years the lawn tennis association was founded in Leamington he introduced a variation of lawn tennis called Sphairistike.
Sphairistike consisted of the same rules as lawn tennis but it was played on an hourglass-shaped court. It was Major Wingfield that widely promoted the game by selling instructions to play the game accompanied by sets of equipment. There is an astronomical amount of work that goes into the preparation and care of the lawns at Wimbledon….
From the moment that the tournament finishes the work begins for the next year, being completely stripped ready to be re-sown. When the grass is stripped back using the best machinery in the business, the ground is then thoroughly weeded to limit the chance of any regrowth. Once this is done the lawn undergoes a rigorous aeration process including tilling the soil.
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