ON THE REBOUND

In 1988, the Australian Open switched from December to January, from Kooyong to Melbourne Park, from grass to Rebound Ace, and reinvented itself as the fourth Grand Slam tournament. Bigger crowds flocked to the new state-of-the-art venue and the event underwent a glorious transformation. Abandoning the grass, however, sounded the death knell for home success.

Australia's tennis history is steeped in the tradition of producing great attacking serve-and-volley champions like Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Margaret Smith-Court, Fred Stolle, Ken Rosewell, Tony Roche, Pat Cash and Pat Rafter. It is therefore unfathomable that it should choose to host the Open using the sport's second slowest surface next to the French Open!

Lleyton Hewitt is no serve-and-volleyer but he has struggled on Rebound Ace and has fared better on quicker surfaces, winning the Wimbledon title in 2002. For some years, he has urged Australian tennis officials to install faster courts at Melbourne Park. "At the end of the day it's their tournament," he said in 2004. "It's the Australian Open's business how they want the court. But I know the US Open would definitely be going up to Roddick and Sampras and Agassi and asking them what kind of surface they want and how quick they want it. At the end of the day, if one of those guys are in the semi or the final then it's making the USTA a hell of a lot of money."

It's not just the slowness of Rebound Ace that attracts criticism. Many players, commentators and coaches complain about its heat reflection and the high incidence of ankle injuries attributable to the rubberised surface becoming sticky in high temperatures. Tennis Australia chief executive Steve Wood has now confirmed the use of Rebound Ace is under review. Tournament director Craig Tiley has revealed several rival surfaces are being tested. "At this point, we've got no plans to change it and we've had a very positive result in '07, but it's a bigger picture," Tiley said. "It's more than just Melbourne Park. It's Australia and that's the more critical question for us. Moving forward we've got to look at not only Melbourne Park but also the ideal court surface across Australia. In the next several months we'll be reviewing that."

There are many reasons against reverting to natural grass, not least the desirability for the Grand Slams to test players' competence on a variety of different surfaces. But this review gives Australian tennis a great opportunity to look at synthetic grass as a means of preserving its rich traditions. The grass may or may not be greener on the other side (Wimbledon) but at least the Aussies won't have to mow it. And perhaps they'll enjoy some homegrown success once again.

© Dave Winship (30 January 2007)
Dave Winship has a website full of interesting and humorous outlooks on tennis. The link is tennisontheline.org.