How different tennis surfaces stack up against each other
How different tennis surfaces stack up against each other
Although tennis at first glance seems pretty much like any other sport out there, you only have to dive slightly deeper to find out just how unique it actually is.
While popular sports such as football and basketball are played on one surface all year round, tennis just isn’t. In fact, there are three different surfaces tennis is played on: grass, clay and hard. Now this does make matters a bit complicated, especially if you are a beginner because one must have prior knowledge of the set of advantages and disadvantages pertaining to each surface. To make matters worse, here is an example of just how different a particular surface in tennis can be. Pete Sampras, one of the all-time greats of the sport in question, spent a total of 286 weeks atop men’s tennis and won 14 Grand Slams overall in his stellar career. But, it’s interesting to see how all those trophies were distributed between each Slam. Wimbledon had the greatest share as a whopping seven trophies came from the grass Major. But, guess what ? All of the remaining seven Major titles were won on hard courts! Yes, Pete Sampras never managed to get off the mark in Roland Garros, the clay Major played in Paris. In fact, he could never reach the title match there.
Here are some basic things worth knowing about each of the three surfaces in question.
Grass
Though some have argued that grass courts today on the professional circuit are not quite as fast as they used to be, grass, nonetheless, is still generally believed to be the fastest surface in tennis. Grass is slippery, allowing the ball to carry greater pace. As a result, serve really becomes a weapon on grass courts as the sheer velocity of the ball allows one to win a greater number of free points on serve, especially by landing a first serve in. This also helps explain why ‘big’ servers in tennis are generally more successful on grass courts than any of the other surfaces. Moreover, bounce is low on a grass court which means those who are good close to the net can benefit through volleying, which is why serve-and-volley is particularly successful on grass.
Clay
Clay, in stark contrast to grass, is the slowest surface in tennis and grabs the ball more than the other surfaces, resulting in a higher bounce, especially in intense sunlight. As a result it is more suited to baseliners who can engage in long rallies and have that ability to stay in a point and ‘grind’ out the opponent.
Hard
Hard courts sit between grass and clay courts when it comes to both speed and bounce. They are typically made of concrete and asphalt, which is then covered with an acrylic top to smooth out the surface and offer some cushioning. As a result, the bounce is also far more predictable and even than the other surfaces. Those who are new to the game will be better off with playing on hard courts as they, in a way, offer the best of what clay and grass courts have to in their predictability and magnitude of bounce alongside the intermediate court speed.