Bring Back Fast Courts
In my opinion, tennis has become increasingly laborious over the past 20 years. With the increasing homogenization of surfaces, there is a general decrease in court speed throughout the tour. The game plan has become simpler – champions can grind out points more effectively than their competition can, and they are able to do so at a lower risk. This strategy has benefitted players like Djokovic, Nadal, Medvedev, Halep, Kerber, and Wozniacki (while they do not lack the ability to do so, Federer and Serena have never primarily been grinders.) This statement is also not meant to discount the aforementioned list of players’ offensive talent, but one would be hard-pressed to find someone who would describe Djokovic or Halep’s game as powerful or bombastic. Unfortunately, (ATP) tennis needs powerful, flashy, non-grinder players right now. They bring attention to the sport; look at Nick Kyrgios, someone who (for better or for worse) is able to get attention outside of the general tennis world. His underhand serve would mean nothing if it were not used in lieu of a monster first serve. Naomi Osaka is another great example of a flashy player — look at her jumping backhand — who can bring a lot of media and attention to the sport. Serena and Federer oozed style on and off the court, and are easily the most well-known players around the world (in the women’s and men’s categories, respectively). Carlos Alcaraz seems to be the next example of this archetype. (I do not count Swiatek in this category. She is an offensive player who is also a huge grinder. She is a strange combination of traits and always seems more focused on 100% efficiency over glitz — she has hit a single-digit amount of drop shots this entire season.) Flashy players who hit hard and play offensively are commercially beneficial for the game. So what does this have to do with bringing back fast courts?
The answer lies in how surfaces affect styles of play. The type of players I’ve just described — big serves, flashy games — benefit from playing on faster surfaces. I would also make the argument that fast surfaces are more impressive from a ball-striking perspective; timing is much more critical. Great performances and long rallies are more impressive. I am not suggesting the return of carpet courts or 90s-level indoor lightning-fast surfaces, but it would be interesting to see the US or Australian Open played on a faster, indoor surface.
Another reason that faster courts would benefit the sport overall would be the shortening of match length. People’s attention spans are shortening — tennis matches are not. Faster matches during a fast-court tournament would make it more likely that people watch entire matches, even if said matches are less consequential in the overall tournament. And yes, everyone loves a four or five hour long epic, but too many of them get exhausting. Faster courts remedy these issues, and an epic on a (very) fast indoor court would highlight its significance due to the inherent unlikeliness of such a situation.
Bring back fast courts! They encourage big players to play even bigger, and they also bring out incredible grinding performances. High-speed tennis will benefit the sport in the long run. Tennis is ever-evolving; why not give some high-speed courts a try? Viewers will be pleased with the results.