LONDON (AP) 鈥� Grass in much of London turned brown last week amid that made Britain and the rest of Europe sizzle. Water demand skyrocketed and suppliers urged people to drastically reduce outdoor usage.
are as green as ever, though, as play at the grass-court Grand Slam got underway this week.
The lush green courts are a standard that players, spectators and broadcasters have come to expect 鈥� or take for granted.
鈥淚 have not once ever considered the watering of the grass,鈥� American player Madison Keys said Thursday after a second-round win. 鈥淭hey always are (green), so that鈥檚 probably why I have never thought about it.鈥�
The players don’t need to worry about it because Neil Stubley, the All England Club鈥檚 head of courts and horticulture, and his team of 31 groundskeepers make sure that is always a picture-perfect spectacle thanks to constant maintenance.
Stubley said he’s 鈥減robably got about 25 weather apps that I look at probably every seven minutes鈥� to make sure he keeps up with the changing climate. He attributes the perfectly green courts to years of research into grasses that can withstand extreme heat.
鈥淚t鈥檚 inevitable and it is happening,鈥� Stubley said of the in Britain. 鈥淲e have a grass species trial that鈥檚 been running for nearly 40 years looking at what are the best grasses for tennis, the more drought tolerant, the more hard-wearing grasses.鈥�
The 18 tournament courts and 20 practice courts for Wimbledon have been sown with perennial ryegrass since 2001. Also, tubes are installed on Centre Court and four other courts in which a probe can be inserted to measure soil moisture.
Soil moisture levels have a direct bearing on surface hardness, live grass cover and ball rebound. The probes came in handy last week when temperature records for June in Britain were smashed on three consecutive days.
It was England鈥檚 warmest June on record, according to the Met Office, Britain鈥檚 national weather service.
What made the heat wave even worse was overnight temperatures were also well-above average.
That hasn’t been an issue this week, though.
鈥淎t the moment, in London, in the UK, you may have a 33-degree (Celsius) day (91 Fahrenheit) but you鈥檙e then getting a 17-degree (62 F) overnight,” Stubley added. “That allows the temperature to come down, it allows the dew point to come in. It鈥檚 almost like us going into an air conditioned room in the evening 鈥� we can all chill out.鈥�
The heat wave in Britain ended last weekend and temperatures at Wimbledon this week have not risen above 26 C (79 F). But it’s forecast to get hotter over the middle weekend and into next week.
What’s more is that it hasn’t rained once during this year’s tournament and there is no rain in the forecast.
Spring in London this year was also drier than usual with April having had only 20% of the average expected rain, according to Thames Water, which is responsible for the water supply in Greater London.
Water supply
There are 54 million grass plants on Centre Court alone at the start of the championships and 200 metric tons of soil are used each year to level the courts.
Each court at Wimbledon has its own unique irrigation program but the club does not have its own water supply system.
Still, organizers strive for conservation.
鈥淓very time we do a project, part of the remit is how can we conserve things, whether that be energy, whether that be water, the construction of the core, we鈥檙e constantly looking at the drainage layers, whether we can start using systems where we can recapture water and reuse it, whether it鈥檚 just potable or can we have boreholes, whether we can use the lakes across the road,鈥� Stubley said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a very fast-moving kind of dynamic because the laws always change. One minute you can have a borehole, the next year you can鈥檛, depending on legislation,鈥� Stubley added.
Counting grass blades
Hot temperatures have become an issue at all four Grand Slams in recent years, whether it鈥檚 consistently extreme temperatures at the Australian Open, , or the humidity at the U.S. Open.
But Wimbledon is the only major played on a live surface; since the Australian Open and U.S. Open are contested on hard courts and the French Open is played on red clay.
Preparation of the Wimbledon courts is independently verified by the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) in Yorkshire.
The research institute performs moisture and hardness readings and even counts blades of grass on the baselines to see how quickly the plants are wearing out.
鈥淎nd then every day we get that data,鈥� Stubley said. 鈥淓ach court will have its own microclimate. 鈥� So we鈥檙e constantly number crunching. 鈥� When we鈥檙e getting those hardness readings and it鈥檚 saying that Court 14 is firmer than Centre Court, we can then add a little bit more water to 14 and a little less to Centre Court so we keep those numbers the same.鈥�
鈥楥heese grater鈥� sliding damage
Heat isn鈥檛 the only menace to Wimbledon鈥檚 courts. Defending champion Jannik Sinner and seven-time winner Novak Djokovic act as unintended lawn mowers when they slide across the baseline to reach shots.
鈥淚f you look at the pimple of a grass-court tennis shoe, it鈥檚 almost like a cheese grater,鈥� Stubley said. 鈥淎s it cuts through the plant, it will shred leaves.鈥�
Unlike the spots where most players stand to serve 鈥� which typically turn brown later in the tournament because of heavy usage 鈥� the sliding damage has a different impact on the courts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more spread out when you鈥檝e got the likes of Novak and Sinner doing that,鈥� Stubley said. 鈥淵ear on year you will have people that just have different styles and we just have to accept that.鈥�
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