Wimbledon defends court conditions after Serena Williams is injured-The New York Times

2021-12-08 08:47:23 By : Ms. Jerry Gao

The slippery grass caused injuries at the end of the match during back-to-back matches, and many stars lost their footholds in the first two days of the match.

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Wimbledon, England-The game continued at Wimbledon’s Centre Court, as it rained outside the first two days of the game, showing in front of thousands of fans that the top stars are considered the biggest players in the sport. On the stage of the church.

Although there was no rain in the centre court, it was raining for the players. In the best case, fast, low-jump grass courts encourage participation in full court tennis, reward risk and punish passivity.

In the worst case, the smooth surface of the court can cause flat tennis shoes to slip and cause players to fall to the ground, usually painful.

In the back-to-back game on Tuesday, the slippery weather caused injuries, affecting the fate of the two most respected stars in the sport. First, Roger Federer advanced after his opponent Adrian Mannarino slipped and injured his knee in a two-set lead.

In the next game, the seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams slipped and aggravated a hamstring injury, forcing her to stop the first round against Sasnovich after just six games. The injury caused Williams to give up one of the best chances that many believed she had to win the elusive 24th Grand Slam championship.

Federer learned of Williams' injury at the press conference after the game. He made an angry and regretful voice: "Come on."

"It's obviously bad, it's a back-to-back game, and it also hit Serena," he said. "Oh, my goodness, I can't believe it."

Williams and Mannarino are the only players to be forced to retire two days before the game, which shows that the conditions on the centre court are far more dangerous than other places in the other 17 stadiums of the All England Club.

Williams' opponent Sasnovich said the court was too slippery and she did not run to take wide-angle shots as usual. Williams' mixed doubles partner Andy Murray (Andy Murray) played on the court the day before. He said the ground made it difficult to move.

The grass court originated as the main venue for tennis in the Victorian era. It has now become an anachronism and only applies to Wimbledon and the few tournaments surrounding it on the calendar. The Australian Open and the US Open, which were once held on the grass, switched to hard courts decades ago.

But while lawn tennis is considered traditional—after all, the sport was originally called lawn tennis—the indoor lawn tennis offered by Wimbledon is novel. Wimbledon only added a retractable roof to the center court in 2009, and added a roof to the second-level first court in 2019. An extensive ventilation system was installed along with the roof, but the grass was still dew.

"I do feel a bit slippery under the eaves," Federer said. "I don't know if this is just an intuition. You have to move there very, very carefully. If you use too much force at the wrong moment, you will indeed fail."

Frequent rains on Monday and Tuesday both damp the stadium before the roof is closed and cause the dense, unspoiled grass to dry out as quickly as it usually does in the open air and in the wind.

Before the game began, the only game on Centre Court throughout the year was a mild doubles match played by the four members of the All England Club on Saturday.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the All England Club defended its court conditions.

The club stated: “The preparations for grass courts are exactly the same as in previous years, with meticulous attention.” “Each grass court is checked by the Grand Slam supervisor, referee’s office and the court team before the start of the game. During the two days of the bi-weekly, they Satisfied with the conditions and cleared the venue for the game.

"The weather conditions during the opening two days were the wettest weather we have experienced in the past ten years, which caused the roofs of Centre Court and Stadium One to close for a long time," the statement continued. "This is when the herbs are at their most lush and green, which does add extra moisture to the natural surface."

The club added: "As each game progresses, the stadium will continue to be stable."

Before the game, Novak Djokovic said that it is an honor to be able to step onto the "virgin grass" on the center court, because the defending men's singles champion is fortunate to participate in the first game of the stadium on the first day of each year. In a four-set victory over Jack Draper on Monday, Djokovic fell awkwardly several times while trying to change direction or continue to hit the ball.

"To be honest, I don't remember how many times I fell on the court," Djokovic said in an interview after the game. "It's slippery. I don't know if it's because the roof is closed, or if it rained heavily the other day, I don't know."

"I want to strengthen my sport and slip a little less on the grass," Djokovic added with a self-deprecating smile. "It doesn't seem to work well on this surface."

Coco Gauff, if both advance to the fourth round, could have faced her idol Serena Williams for the first time against the teenage genius, pointing out that the scarcity of lawn tennis on the calendar gives players almost no chance to master what they need. Exercise to ensure a solid foundation-especially this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the entire lawn swing was cancelled last year.

"In general, no one is really used to moving on the grass because the season is too short," Goff said. "People will inevitably slip and fall."

This is not the first time Wimbledon has suffered from a fall. In 2013, stars including Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki slipped and injured themselves on the grass. Blame it on the particularly humid spring and humidity.

In recent years, grass courts in events other than Wimbledon have also proven to be harmful. At the Queen's Club in London two years ago, Juan Martin del Potro slipped on the smooth grass, injured his knee and required multiple operations, which prevented him from returning to the game.

This month, in Halle, Germany, the 16th ranked David Goffin slipped while trying to step on the grass at some point, and his injury prevented him from participating in the Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

Tennis authorities don’t always seem to pay special attention to player safety issues. At the Italian Open in Rome last month, Rafael Nadal tripped a line that had taken off the clay court. At the Australian Open, due to the extreme high temperature and poor air quality caused by nearby wildfires, event officials have not stopped the game for a long time.

Rebound Ace is a rubber synthetic hard surface partly made of old car tires. It was used at the Australian Open from 1988 to 2007. Players thought it was too sticky in hot weather. They blamed it on injuries.

At the 2011 U.S. Open, heavy rain brought by Hurricane Irene on the eve of the championship caused cracks in the hard surface of the Louis Armstrong secondary stadium, causing the game to stop in the following games.

Andy Roddick (Andy Roddick) played David Ferrer (David Ferrer) on the pitch when the game was suspended. He led players, officials and fans to the smaller but dry No. 13 pitch.

The 2012 Madrid Open made the most rapid changes to the surface based on player feedback. At that time, the clay was dyed a bright azure blue instead of the normal rust color. Although it was photogenic and there were no serious injuries on the surface, the blue soil was abandoned the following year after players including Nadal stated that they would no longer participate in the game. The red clay came back the next year.

Wimbledon, who cherishes traditions, is unlikely to reconsider its iconic green grass, even if it allows one of the sport's biggest stars to withdraw from the competition.

The club said in a statement on Tuesday: "Our long-serving course team has experienced almost all possible combinations of weather conditions." Respond to the current situation. We will continue to monitor these readings and adjust our grass care plan appropriately."